Donald Trump’s peacekeeping mission to the Senate last week did not go well, particularly when Arizona senator Jeff Flake greeted the Republican presidential nominee with an icy putdown that was widely circulated by the press. Representing a state with one of the largest percentages of Latinos in the United States, Flake has been a vocal critic of Trump’s anti-Hispanic rhetoric, and was quick to call him out on it during the closed-door meeting.

“Yes, I’m the other senator from Arizona—the one who didn’t get captured—and I want to talk to you about statements like that,” he told Trump, alluding to his fellow senator, John McCain, the former prisoner of war whom Trump once mocked for being captured.

In an interview with the Hive, Flake expressed exasperation that the press had seized on his statement, but didn’t deny that he still has his problems with Trump. Here, he talks about why he doesn’t think that Trump has changed, considers whether his candidacy will impact other Republican races, and explains why he doesn’t believe his own party’s presidential nominee can win.

VF Hive: I have to address a certain Mr. Trump, and that lovely conversation you had with him on Capitol Hill on Thursday.

Jeff Flake: [Laughs] I guess you could call it that.

You’ve been able to be critical of Trump while also saying, definitively, that you’re not in the #NeverTrump camp.

I want to support our nominee. I want to support him, he’s our nominee. I’d like to be able to get there, but given the statements he has made, it’s very difficult for me to do so. I’m not convinced that he’s changed. On the Muslim ban, he has backed off there, though it’s not exactly clear where he’s going to land. He has backed off, and that’s a good sign. But the comment about the judge [Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel] being Mexican, that was just a few weeks ago. And he hasn’t. The wall, his characterization of his Mexican-Americans and Hispanics is just troubling, particularly when you’re from Arizona.

If he continues to refuse to budge on that, what would you do?

I can’t see supporting him. But I’ll continue to make the case: I think somebody should stand up and say, “This is not where the party is, and we don’t agree with that position.” If people don’t stand up on this, then this will have implications far beyond November. That’s my biggest concern. Somebody’s got to stand up to him.

What would it take for him to win back your vote?

Well, that’s not the only thing. His position on trade is very troubling. And you can couch it in terms of fair trade all day long, but if you reject these multilateral trade deals, then you’re really rejecting free trade, because the way that trade is accomplished, these countries have options. Now, if they don’t enter into free-trade pacts with us, there are other groups and nations and other regions that will trade with them. That’s just not a recipe for economic growth. And also, his unwillingness to talk about entitlement reform, that—if we don’t trade, and if we’re going to build fortress America here, and isolate ourselves.

“If people don’t stand up on this, then this will have implications far beyond November.”

You’re the senator from Arizona, and as you told Trump, you’re not up for re-election for a while, and won’t be on the receiving end of whatever retribution he may want to dole out. But your colleague Senator John McCain is up for re-election now, and his race is contentious.

John has his own brand and he’s been our nominee. People know where he is; certainly they do in Arizona. I don’t think he is tainted as much with the positions that Trump has taken towards Hispanics, because people know where John has been. He’s been involved with immigration reform, and he’s just not the type to make those statements or have that sentiment. And Trump has gone after John directly, which is another thing that Trump has never apologized for. That’s pretty upsetting, actually.