Oct 25, 2017

Flake: GOP shouldn't have to "cozy up to" Trump

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill. Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Senator Jeff Flake, who announced he's not running for reelection in Arizona the next cycle told Morning Joe one of the reasons he's standing down is because constituents see "not standing with the president is somehow not conservative…that's something that's got to change." Other thoughts from the Senator:

  • On a 2020 Flake run: He hedged. "That's a long way away," Flake told ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
  • On why he's done: Because he doesn't want to "cozy up to" Trump's "behavior" and because "I could not win in a Republican primary." He clarified, that level of whiplash for opposing Trump "may be more pronounced in Arizona than some other states."
  • On calling out Trump when he spreads lies: We must say, "this is speech that is reckless and it's undignified and until we do we are complicit in normalizing that kind of behavior."
  • On foreign policy: "We've got to have a foreign policy that's sober, predictable, and consistent."

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World coronavirus updates

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Axios Visuals

Countries where novel coronavirus cases are falling may be hit with a "second peak" if they relax restrictions too soon, World Health Organization emergencies chief Mike Ryan warned during a briefing Monday. "We're still very much in a phase where the disease is actually on the way up," he added.

By the numbers: Brazil on Monday recorded for the first time more deaths from the novel coronavirus in a single day than the United States, Reuters notes. Brazil reported 807 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, compared to 620 in the U.S. for the same period.

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  • "Did I suffer? ... I've had some of my favorite employees leave," Karp told "Axios on HBO."
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Michigan governor won't apologize for coronavirus lockdown

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The big picture: Whitmer, who has been a frequent target of President Trump, insisted that she had to act in the face of a lack of federal leadership — and that thousands more people in her state would have died without the lockdown.

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