Sen. Jeff Flake expands on his comment that "Conservatism has been corrupted by populism" in an interview on 'Meet The Press':



"I'm not denying populism isn't popular -- that's why it is called populism," Flake said. "To be a conservative is not just to follow conservative principles in terms of limited government, economic freedom, free trade, but it is conservative in terms of comportment and behavior and I don’t think that we have seen that out of the White House."









CHUCK TODD: What -- but I am curious what motivated you to write this book? Donald Trump’s character or this issue with conservatism that you’re just making the argument -- and others have made to me before -- that actually goes back 20 years?



SEN. JEFF FLAKE: Well, I started writing this book before Donald Trump became president, but I am concerned at the direction the party is going -- protectionism in particular, kind of an anti-immigrant fervor. Those kind of things, I don’t think, are going to propel Republicans into the future. I think demographics are against us in that regard. And I think that we’ve got to do something different.



CHUCK TODD: But I guess I go back -- if Donald Trump, you thought he was a man of good character, but was still touting the same populist populism, protectionism, as you just described it, when it comes to trade issues, some things that have been stuff that conservatives have argued against for years, would you have written this book with the same tone?



SEN. JEFF FLAKE: Well, I do think it’s not -- to be a conservative is not just to follow conservative principles in terms of limited government, economic freedom, free trade, but it is conservative in terms of comportment and behavior and I don’t think that we have seen that out of the White House. It’s not conservative on foreign policy, for example, to keep your allies guessing as to where you are and what you support. A conservative is steady and measured and sober in terms of implementation of diplomacy and use of force. And I think that that is lacking. And I think that we have got to change course in that regard.