GOP Senators Play Trump Drama Off As No More Than A Little Family Feud

FILE - In this Friday, July 1, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the opening session of the Western Conservative Summit, in Denver. Trump has narrowed down his vice preside... FILE - In this Friday, July 1, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the opening session of the Western Conservative Summit, in Denver. Trump has narrowed down his vice presidential shortlist to a handful of contenders. While the presumptive GOP nominee is known for throwing curveballs, he is said to be considering: Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie, Mike Pence, and others. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) MORE LESS
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When Donald Trump prepared to answer a question from Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) Thursday afternoon at a closed door meeting near Capitol Hill, he wasn’t going to let Flake off the hook for being an outspoken critic of Trump’s rhetoric and tone.

“You’ve been very critical of me,” Trump said to Flake, according to a report from the Washington Post.

“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,” Flake
said, the Post reported.

The exchange was just one of many relayed Thursday from participants in the meeting that painted a picture of a tough and tense meeting between senators trying to protect their party’s future and the Republican Party’s nominee who seems only concerned about his own poll numbers. During the same meeting, the Post reported that Trump said Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL)– who has publicly opposed Trump–was a “loser.”

“He’s wrong,” Kirk, who did not attend the meeting, told reporters later on Capitol Hill. “I’ve never been defeated in Illinois. I think Trump is gonna get a vote like Alan Keyes got, which was about 28 percent.”

Flake declined to comment about his terse exchange with Trump.

“Nah. I’ll just leave it,” Flake said. “My position remains. I want to support the nominee I really do. I just can’t support him given the things that he’s said.”

The Senate GOP’s meeting with Trump followed an earlier presentation with House Republicans, which had left some very skeptical of the party’s nominee. Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) recounted that Trump had actually promised to defend the the 12th Article of the Constitution during the meeting, which does not actually exist.

The meeting Thursday was a rare moment for senators to see a more personal side of Trump, who has given many of them heartburn over the last few months. But some lawmakers appeared frustrated that the headlines coming out of the meeting weren’t about the discussions on tax policy or health care, but instead the tense exchanges with a few Republican senators.

“Well … you know things end up always being memorable,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said.

Other Republicans rejected the presumption that the meeting with Trump had been anything other than cordial.

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) said that he thought Trump’s pointed comments about Kirk and Flake had been little more than an attempt to grow party unity.

“I think in a way though that was designed to say that the only way this works and the only way we all succeed is if we’re all on the same team, we’re all pulling together,” Thune said. He later added, “It was a frank discussion. … It is the kind of discussion you have inside the family.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) tried to play down the tense exchanges in the meeting, telling reporters that for 50 minutes of it there were intense policy discussions.

“It was a pretty relaxed meeting,” Lankford said.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said that Trump reacted appropriately.

“Well, I know he’s not particularly happy with some of the criticism he’s received, but that’s fairly normal,” Cornyn said. “I actually thought there was some good exchanges in our meeting between some of our people who have been critics.”

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  1. Avatar for wwss wwss says:

    Somehow I have a problem with anyone claiming Trump could talk about anything other than his own greatness for an hour.

  2. Avatar for zsak zsak says:

    … little more than an attempt to grow party unity.

    Which is why they are all showing up at the convention.

  3. “You’ve been very critical of me," Trump said to Flake, according to a report from the Washington Post.

    “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,” Flake said, the Post reported.

  4. Stig: Er… Well he never told me that. But he gave me his word that it was the case, and that’s good enough for me with old Dinsy. I mean, he didn’t want to nail my head to the floor. I had to insist. He wanted to let me off. There’s nothing Dinsdale wouldn’t do for you.
    Interviewer: And you don’t bear him any grudge?
    Stig: A grudge! Old Dinsy? He was a real darling.
    Interviewer: I understand he also nailed your wife’s head to a coffee table. Isn’t that right Mrs O’ Tracey?
    (Camera pans to show woman with coffee table nailed to head.)
    Mrs O’ Tracey: Oh, no. No. No.
    Stig: Yeah, well, he did do that. Yeah, yeah. He was a cruel man, but fair

  5. A Family Feud?

    It’s a rare accomplishment when you can send the corpses of Mark Goodman, Richard Dawson, Ray Combs, Louie Anderson, Richard Karn, John O’Hurley, and Steve Harvey spinning … before most of them have even died!

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