Jeff Flake isn’t saying he’s running in 2020…at least not yet. But he’s clear about one thing, and that is he’s not ruling out a run against Trump in 2020:
TOWNHALL – Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake is retiring at the end of his term but he may not be giving up on politics altogether.
The staunch critic of President Trump said Thursday during a speech at the National Press Club that he may take on the commander in chief in 2020.
“It’s not in my plan to run for president, but I am not ruling it out. Somebody needs to stand up for traditional Republicanism,” Flake said. “Somebody needs to raise that, for nothing else than to give people hope that that decent party will be back. We’ll get through this.”
He also said the blind loyalty to Trump shown by many of his fellow Republican colleagues means the GOP “might not deserve to lead.”
While Flake acknowledged the uphill battle of defeating the president if the election were held today, the Arizona Republican said all that could change dramatically if the GOP has disastrous results in the midterm elections.
“Not today, but two years from now, possibly. Things can unravel pretty fast,” Flake said. “As soon as he’s viewed as one who loses majorities in the House and the Senate, and there’s no chance that someone in the 30s can win re-election, people might move on.”
He also said if Trump does not lose support from his base, there is still another option to run as an independent.
“I’m not ruling that out either,” he said. “There are going to be a lot of other people in the party looking for something else.”
There ain’t no way Jeff Flake can compete with Trump, even after four years of daily Twitter rage. This isn’t an uphill battle for Flake, this is fantasy if he thinks he can win a presidential campaign. The only way that Flake could win a presidential Republican primary is for him to be the only Republican among horrible Democratic candidates.
But hey, as they say, good luck with that. Some impossible dreams are impossible.