Trump’s Taunts Highlight Flake’s Nightmare Scenario, Blind Party Loyalty

August 23, 2017​

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump’s veiled and direct shots at Arizona Senator Jeff Flake highlight the nightmare scenario the vulnerable incumbent now faces.

Not only will Flake have to win a difficult primary by appealing to Trump-minded primary voters and brandishing his lockstep support for Trump’s agenda, he’ll then have to explain to independent-minded general election voters why he buckled to Trump’s threats and happily fell in line with his party’s agenda to take away health care from Arizonans without a replacement plan.

EMILYs List Executive Director Emily Cain released the following statement:

“Arizona women will not only hold Senator Jeff Flake accountable for his deciding vote to take health care coverage away from hundreds of thousands of Arizonans, but also for blindly following Donald Trump and the Republican Party out of fear of losing his seat. Arizonans will remember Flake's spinelessness in next year’s election.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.