The atmosphere at the Republican National Convention last week in Cleveland, Ohio was extremely hostile, especially when the name “Hillary Clinton” was uttered on stage. Chants of “Hillary for Prison,” and “Lock Her Up,” often rang out across the Quicken Loans Arena.
In fact, according to CNN’s Chris Moody, the unofficial slogan of the convention essentially became that latter refrain. He wrote:
“Watch out, ‘Make America Great Again,’ the delegates at the Republican National Convention are warming up to a new favorite slogan: ‘Lock her up.’ For a second night in a row, delegates on the floor of the convention chanted the phrase, directed toward presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who they say should face charges for setting up a private email server for official state business.”
Vox’s Andrew Prokop noted:
“The idea of jailing Hillary Clinton was endorsed three times by speakers at the podium on Monday — two that were scripted, and one that wasn’t.”
At least one republican senator was having none of it.
Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) gained some attention last week by going against the angry GOP pitchfork crowd when he tweeted:
.@HillaryClinton now belongs in prison? C'mon. We can make the case that she shouldn't be elected without jumping the shark.
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) July 20, 2016
Flake had already distanced himself from the crazy circus that was the convention, and he has also been critical of Donald Trump. Of an encounter he had with Trump, Flake told NPR in June, 2016:
“Donald Trump pointed at me and said, ‘You’ve been very critical of me,’ and I said, ‘Yes I have.’ Then I mentioned the judge comments [Trump’s repeated accusations that Judge Gonzalo Curiel was biased because of his Mexican heritage, which some leading Republicans branded “racist”] and his comments about those across the border being rapists, and said that we can’t hope to win the White House using language like that.”
Flake continued:
“He reminded me that he was doing very well in Arizona, and [said] that I wouldn’t do so well in Arizona in my re-election. I reminded him that I wasn’t up for re-election this year.”
Senator Flake expounded on his tweet in a longer post on Medium.com. While still not a fan of Hillary Clinton, he said:
“But one thing is certain, Republicans are not going to defeat Hillary Clinton in November by insisting that she belongs in prison any more than we defeated Barack Obama by pretending that he was born in Kenya.”
It’s almost as if Senator Flake is hoping for a campaign where real issues can be debated and discussed. Given that the candidate the GOP has nominated for president is a huckster who believes throwing insults is a viable debate tactic, he will undoubtedly have to wait at least four more years.
Watch GOP delegates being whipped in to a frenzy by retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn:
Featured Image taken from YouTube video
