Mitch McConnell's former chief of staff Josh Holmes breaks down the mindset of the establishment GOP. | Alex Wong/Getty Images What establishment Republicans think about Trump's tirade

SIREN -- THE NEW CIVIL WAR: INSIDE THE MINDS OF TOP ESTABLISHMENT REPUBLICANS -- FROM JOSH HOLMES, the former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the president of Cavalry: “If you took a time machine from ten years ago and arrived this week you would be forgiven for assuming Donald Trump was elected president as a Democrat on a platform of ‘the south will rise again!’

“Trump is using the precious capital of the bully pulpit to talk about confederate monuments in between savage attacks on fellow Republicans. Just think about that. Not tax reform. Not repeal and replace. Not North Korean nuclear capabilities. No focused critiques on extremely vulnerable Democrats who have opposed him at every possible turn.


“The reality is that every time he attacks a Republican he invites another member in good standing and another segment of the Republican party to abandon him. When you’re eight months in and Republicans are all you have left, chipping away at the remaining few is a helluva strategy. The outpouring of critiques from within the GOP about the President’s handling of Charlottesville could serve as a wake up call for the Administration, but if not, it could also be a Republican Party that begins to reassert an identity without Donald Trump.”

WHAT JOSH IS TALKING ABOUT -- @realDonaldTrump: “Great to see that Dr. Kelli Ward is running against Flake Jeff Flake, who is WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate. He's toxic!” … “Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. You........can't change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who’s next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish! Also......the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!”

Playbook PM Sign up for our must-read newsletter on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

IT’S NOT SURPRISING that Trump doesn’t want Flake to be reelected -- he has been vocally opposed to the president, his behavior and some of his policies. This is just the latest back-and-forth between the two in the last month. But calling for an incumbent senator’s head from your own party is unprecedented. Flake has good relationships with his Senate colleagues and is a reliable Republican vote for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. This type of intraparty pissing match in public is the exact type of thing McConnell hates. Expect Republican senators to link arms and back Flake.

-- SENATE DEMOCRATS will love this. It’s like a free gift. It distracts the GOP and could force McConnell and other outside groups to spend millions of dollars in a costly primary tying up money that could be used elsewhere.

-- @AliABCNews: “‘The NRSC unequivocally supports Senator Flake in his reelection bid.’ – NRSC Chairman @SenCoryGardner” … @SenJohnMcCain: “[email protected] is a principled legislator & always does what's right for the people of #AZ. Our state needs his leadership now more than ever.”

