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# 'Treason Is Not a Punchline.' Republican Sen. Jeff Flake Blasts Donald Trump's Comments

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/msdAFJ3s.m3u8" -->
## Video: 'Treason Is Not a Punchline.' Republican Sen. Jeff Flake Blasts Donald Trump's Comments

[Watch (HLS stream): 'Treason Is Not a Punchline.' Republican Sen. Jeff Flake Blasts Donald Trump's Comments](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/msdAFJ3s.m3u8) (0:57)

!['Treason Is Not a Punchline.' Republican Sen. Jeff Flake Blasts Donald Trump's Comments](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/msdAFJ3s/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2018-02-06. One of President Donald Trump’s loudest critics from within his own party took to the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon to denounce his calling Democrats “treasonous” at an event in Ohio the prior evening._


---

Jul 27, 2023 11:27 PM UTC

---

## More From This Series

[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

[What Makes Trump's 'Treason' Talk Different](/video/5BDao57K/)

### What Makes Trump's 'Treason' Talk Different

[Sen. Jeff Flake Likens President Trump's Attacks on Media to Josef Stalin](/video/lZiyLScO/)

### Sen. Jeff Flake Likens President Trump's Attacks on Media to Josef Stalin

[Donald Trump's Comments on Women](/video/LjHsjcpL/)

### Donald Trump's Comments on Women

---


## Transcript

I have seen the president's most ardent defenders use the now weary argument that the president's comments were meant as a joke. Just sarcasm. Only tongue in cheek. But treason is not a punch line, Mr. president. Have we arrived at such a place of numb acceptance that we have nothing to say, When the president of the United States casually suggests that those who choose not to stand or applaud his speech are guilty of treason, I certainly may hope not. One who level such a charge knows neither the meaning of treason nor the power that the words of a president carry And if we are numb to such words then we will surely regret that we fail to defend our colleagues in the congress against such a wild remark .

But our silence will also mark the day that we fail to recognise that this conduct in an American President is simply is not normal.

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