"Reckless, outrageous, undignified": US senator's blistering attack on Donald Trump as more of President's own party turn on him

Donald Trump and his administration have been
branded "reckless, outrageous and undignified" in an
astonishing attack from a member of his own party.
Tensions among Republicans about the President
boiled over on Tuesday as two senators accused
Trump of debasing US politics and the country's
standing abroad.
Senator Jeff Flake announced he would not be
standing for re-election, the latest GOP lawmaker to
retire from Congress.
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But the Republican from Arizona he followed the
announcement with a blistering speech aimed at
Trump and warning of the dangers of being complicit
in accepting his behaviour as "normal."
In an extraordinary speech to the Senate, Flake said:
"In this century, a new phrase has entered the
language to describe the accommodation of a new
and undesirable order - that phrase being 'the new
normal.'
"But we must never adjust to the present coarseness
of our national dialogue, with the tone set at the top.
"We must never regard as 'normal' the regular and
casual undermining of our democratic norms and
ideals."
He added: "If we simply become inured to this
condition, thinking that it is just politics as usual, then
heaven help us."
Flake repeatedly targeted Trump's style of governing,
saying American politics had become "inured" to
"reckless, outrageous and undignified" behaviour from
the White House.
He continued: "The instinct to scapegoat and belittle
threatens to turn us into a fearful, backward-looking
people.
"I will not be complicit or silent."
Flake's speech came after fellow Republican Senator
Bob Corker earlier called Trump a liar who had
damaged the country’s standing in the world.
Corker, who has also said he is not running for re-
election in Tennessee, said: "You would think he
would aspire to be the president of the United States
and act like a president of the United States, but
that’s not going to be the case apparently.
"I’ve seen no evolution in an upward way. In fact, I
would say, he’s almost devolved."
Trump has been unrelenting in his criticism of Corker
and Flake, accusing them of supporting Democratic
priorities.
He has launched into scathing attacks on Twitter,
regularly dismissing former ally Corker as "liddle Bob
Corker."
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders dismissed
the comments from the two senators and said Trump
wanted senators who could make progress on his
policy goals.
"He wants people to be in the Senate that are
committed to actually moving the ball down the field,
and I don't think these two individuals necessarily
have been as focused on that," she told reporters.
Trump has also provoked the ire of another respected
senior Republican, Senator John McCain, whose war
record he mocked during last year's campaign.
And last week, former Republican President George
W. Bush, who has kept a low profile since leaving
office in January 2009, took a thinly veiled swipe at
Trump in a speech in which he decried "bullying and
prejudice" and denounced anti-immigrant sentiment.

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