--- title: Jeff Flake Called the GOP 'Toast' on a Hot Mic description: Sen. Jeff Flake was caught on a hot mic calling the Republican party "toast" if it becomes the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump canonical: https://time.com/5030868/jeff-flake-gop-toast/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-18T21:40:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:08.587Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sen. Jeff Flake Called the GOP 'Toast' on a Hot Mic og:description: He was caught bashing Donald Trump and Roy Moore og:url: https://time.com/5030868/jeff-flake-gop-toast/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f7c24c057d912e8/6988e671096a9499356a079c/jeff-flake-gop-toast.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5472 og:image:height: 3078 og:image:alt: Tillerson And Mattis Testify At Senate Hearing On Authorization Of Use Of Force og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sen. Jeff Flake Called the GOP 'Toast' on a Hot Mic twitter:description: He was caught bashing Donald Trump and Roy Moore twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f7c24c057d912e8/6988e671096a9499356a079c/jeff-flake-gop-toast.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republican Senator Jeff Flake Calls the GOP 'Toast' on a Hot Mic > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Arizona Senator Jeff Flake Will Not Seek Reelection: 'I Will Not Be Complicit' [Watch (HLS stream): Arizona Senator Jeff Flake Will Not Seek Reelection: 'I Will Not Be Complicit'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xfV1B0Af.m3u8) (2:08)  _Published 2017-10-24. Arizona Senator Jeff Flake said Tuesday he will not seek reelection, and gave an extraordinary rebuke on the Senate floor to President Donald Trump and the rightward shift of the Republican party._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 18, 2017 9:40 PM UTC  Sen. Jeff Flake looks on during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Oct. 30, 2017 in Washington, DC. Sen. Jeff Flake looks on during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Oct. 30, 2017 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 18, 2017 9:40 PM UTC Sen. Jeff Flake was caught on a hot mic Friday bashing President Donald Trump and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. Flake’s gaffe occurred at a tax reform event in Mesa, Ariz., [ABC News reports](http://abc7ny.com/politics/jeff-flake-on-hot-mic-gop-is-toast-with-trump-moore/2666655/). The Arizona senator was talking to friend and Mesa Mayor John Giles, and apparently did not realize his microphone was still on. “If \[Republicans\] become [the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump](http://time.com/5030698/sexual-harassment-trump/), we are toast,” ABC affiliate KNXV caught Flake saying. Flake’s comments on Friday may not have been intended for public consumption, but the Republican has made himself a highly visible Trump adversary in the past. Most notably, [Flake announced in October that he would conclude his Senate service in January 2019](http://time.com/4995650/arizona-jeff-flake-retire-donald-trump-republican-party/) due to the state of the administration and the political climate. “I am aware that a segment of my party believes that anything short of complete and unquestioning loyalty to a president who belongs to my party is unacceptable and suspect,” he said on the Senate floor. “If I have been critical, it not because I relish criticizing the behavior of the president of the United States. If I have been critical, it is because I believe that it is my obligation to do so, as a matter of duty and conscience.” Giles, meanwhile, was caught making some inflammatory comments of his own on Friday, while apparently encouraging Flake to run for president, ABC reports. “Think about how much fun it would be — just to be the foil, you know, and point out what an idiot this guy is,” Giles said, seemingly alluding to Trump. “Anyway, I hope you do it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5030868/jeff-flake-gop-toast/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5030868/jeff-flake-gop-toast/"},"headline":"Republican Senator Jeff Flake Calls the GOP 'Toast' on a Hot Mic","datePublished":"2017-11-18T21:40:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:04:08.587Z","description":"The Arizona senator bashed Donald Trump and Roy Moore","url":"https://time.com/5030868/jeff-flake-gop-toast/","keywords":["Senate","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f7c24c057d912e8/6988e671096a9499356a079c/jeff-flake-gop-toast.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f7c24c057d912e8/6988e671096a9499356a079c/jeff-flake-gop-toast.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tillerson And Mattis Testify At Senate Hearing On Authorization Of Use Of Force","caption":"Tillerson And Mattis Testify At Senate Hearing On Authorization Of Use Of Force","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/senate/","name":"Senate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5030868/jeff-flake-gop-toast/","name":"Republican Senator Jeff Flake Calls the GOP 'Toast' on a Hot Mic"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Arizona Senator Jeff Flake Will Not Seek Reelection: 'I Will Not Be Complicit'","description":"Arizona Senator Jeff Flake said Tuesday he will not seek reelection, and gave an extraordinary rebuke on the Senate floor to President Donald Trump and the rightward shift of the Republican party.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xfV1B0Af/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-10-24T20:22:20.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xfV1B0Af.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5030868/jeff-flake-gop-toast/","duration":"PT2M8S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5030868/jeff-flake-gop-toast/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```