Former Sen. Flake, outspoken Trump critic, on the GOP reckoning post-midterms

Days after heavy Republican losses in the midterms, President Donald Trump has promoted Stephen Miller, the architect of his hard-line immigration agenda, to chief of staff. Former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a vocal Republican critic of Trump, told PBS NewsHour's Amna Nawaz the choice signals the president is digging in rather than seeking deals with Democrats. Flake said Miller kept pulling Trump back from immigration compromises during his first term.

Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance have blamed the Iran war for the defeats, but Flake says affordability drove voters, starting with tariffs that raised prices before the war began, along with fatigue over Republicans branding opponents as socialists or communists. He cited Arizona, where Democrats now hold the governorship and both legislative chambers for the first time in 60 years, and where a 19-year-old Democrat unseated a Republican former legislator by about 100,000 votes in the Maricopa County clerk of the superior court race.

Flake expects the next Republican presidential nominee to keep distance from Trump and return to limited government, economic freedom and free trade. Asked about Marco Rubio, he said Rubio has kept some distance so far, though that may not last in his current post.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →