White House on Flake not seeking re-election: 'Probably a good move'

The White House has said that Republican Senator Jeff Flake’s retirement announcement is “probably a good move.”

At a press briefing on Tuesday, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about President Trump’s reaction to the lawmaker’s remarks.

“I haven’t spoken with him (Trump) directly since the announcement by Senator Flake, but I think that based on previous statements and certainly based on the lack of support that he has from the people of Arizona, it’s probably a good move,” Sanders said.

Preliminary indications have suggested that Flake may not have been able to win the Republican primary for his own seat.

He spoke about his decision not to run for re-election next year in a speech Politico has called “a full-throated denunciation of Trump.”

“We must never adjust to the coarseness of our dialogue, with the tone set up at the top. We must never accept the deadly sundering of our country. The personal attacks, threats against principles and freedoms and institutions, and flagrant disregard for decency,” he told his fellow senators.

“Reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior has become excused 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,” the senator added.

During a later appearance on CNN, Flake declined to comment on Sanders’ statement but stood by the language in his speech.