--- 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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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e17e5b87-cc86-4b39-9a4f-d7d022ed0a73&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## 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.” ## Transcript The personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms and institution, the flagrant disregard for truth, and decency, the reckless provocations, most often for the pettiest and most personal reasons, reasons having nothing what so ever to do with the fortunes of the people That we have been elected to serve. None of these appalling features of our current politics should ever be regarded as normal. It must also be said that I arise today with no small measure of regret, regret because of the state of our disunion, regret because of the disrepair and destructiveness of our politics. Regret because of the indecency of our discourse. Regret because of the coarseness of our leadership. Regret for the compromise of our moral authority. And by our, I mean all of our complicity and this alarming and dangerous state of affairs. Is time for our complicity and our accommodation of the unacceptable to end. We must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. They are not normal. Reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior Has become excused and countenanced as telling it like it is. When it is actually just reckless, outrageous, and undignified. And when such behavior emanates from the top of our government, it is something else. It is dangerous to a democracy. Such behavior does not projects strength because our strength comes from our values. It instead projects a corruption of the spirit and weakness. Sustained incumbency is certainly not the point of seeking office and there are times when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles Now is such a time. Mr. President, I rise today to say, enough. ```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"}}] ```