Flake, who announced his retirement from the Senate in 2017 after half-hearted and ineffective opposition to some presidential policies, tweeted that challenging Trump’s right to be in the White House was “awful.” Twitter foes had a difficult time swallowing the flip-flopping Republican’s self-righteousness.

Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on Friday blasted former President Jimmy Carter for challenging the legitimacy of Donald Trump ’s presidency because of Kremlin interference in the 2016 election.

This is an awful thing for one American President to say about another. Argue that he shouldn't be reelected, sure, but don't say that he wasn't legitimately elected. https://t.co/jRjGdH6n9Q

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation found that Russia waged a “sweeping and systematic” influence campaign during the 2016 presidential election with the goal of electing Trump, who still failed to win the popular vote.

“There’s no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the election,” Carter said Friday at the Carter Center’s retreat in Virginia. “I think the interference ... if fully investigated would show that Trump actually didn’t win the election in 2016 .... He was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”

Asked if he thought Trump was an “illegitimate president,” Carter responded: “Based on what I just said, which I can’t retract.”

Flake’s foes on Twitter weren’t too broken up about his offended sensibilities.