Among the many congressional Republicans who have announced they will not be seeking reelection in 2018, Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake has become well known for his staunch criticisms of President Trump. As a result, the state’s junior senator has earned the wrath of his fellow Senate Republicans, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, and Trump himself. Even so, Flake has pressed on, making his opinions of the Trump presidency (and its supporters) crystal clear — even when he thinks the cameras are turned away and the microphones are turned off.
Such was not the case in Mesa, Arizona on Friday night, where flake and Mayor John Giles co-hosted a town hall meeting to discuss tax reform. Local ABC News affiliate KNXV managed to catch the two men speaking among themselves as the attendees left, at which point Flake uttered his latest criticism into the hot mic he was still wearing. “If we become the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump,” he told the Mesa mayor, “we are toast.” Laughing, Giles responded, “I’m not throwing smoke at you, but you’re the guy that could, just for fun… be the foil, you know, and point out what an idiot this guy is.”
At that point, an unidentified man interrupted Flake and Giles’s conversation to let them know their mics were still recording. The wide-eyed senator briefly reacted to the news…
…but as evidenced by a tweet responding to the story on Saturday, he doesn’t appear to be sorry about what he said. “No news here,” Flake wrote. “I’ve been saying this to anyone who will listen.”
No news here. I've been saying this to anyone who will listen https://t.co/50klmeSm5a
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) November 18, 2017
(Via ABC News)