Flake calls Trump 'destructive' after comments on 'treasonous' Democrats

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump of “destructive behavior,” a day after the president said that Democrats who did not applaud or stand during his State of the Union address were “treasonous.”

Trump made the comments on Monday in Ohio during a speech that was meant to highlight the benefits of Republican tax legislation. The president, however, went off script to put attention back to his State of the Union address last week.


“Un-American,” Trump said in characterizing Democrats’ response to his speech. “Somebody said treasonous. I mean, yeah, I guess, why not.”

On the Senate floor, Flake, who has been an outspoken critic of the president, warned his colleagues on Tuesday.

"Words matter,” he said. “Have we arrived at such a place of numb acceptance that we have nothing to say when a president of the United States casually suggests that those who choose not to stand or applaud his speech are guilty of treason? I certainly hope not."

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“I have seen the president’s most ardent defenders use the now-weary argument that the president’s comments were meant as a joke, just sarcasm, only tongue in cheek,” he added. “But treason is not a punchline.”

Flake went on to say that Trump’s comments were divisive, and urged Congress to recognize that his words shouldn’t be normalized and ignored.

“But that, my colleagues, is up to us,” he said. “We must recognize that this is aberrant, destructive behavior, whatever rationale its defenders may offer. And we must never shrink from opposing it. For it is in opposing this behavior that we defend our norms, our ideals and our values. It is in opposing this behavior that we stand for decency.”

