Senator Jeff Flake Discusses Free Trade, Future of the Republican Party

(Featured Photo: Christopher Halloran/Shutterstock.com)

By: Nicole Gimpl

Cronkite Special to AZLatinos.com

Free trade and Donald Trump were major talking points Friday afternoon at a community town hall with Senator Jeff Flake.

“One thing that has been very concerning this election season is that free trade has taken a beating,” said Flake. “For the first time, the top two candidates of both parties have used rhetoric against free trade. If we don’t trade, we die economically. Particularly for a state like ours that relies on cross border trade… it is a really scary prospect to not move forward either with Transatlantic Pacific Partnership or other multilateral free trade agreements.”

At the event, hosted by the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and The Congressman Ed Pastor Center for Politics & Public Service at Arizona State University, Arizona’s junior Senator expressed deep concern over discussions by this season’s presidential candidates of revisiting the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, calling any interference with the agreement “devastating.” Upon further reference to the electoral season, he referred to it as “silly,” mentioning his lack of confidence in Trump as a good representation of the Republican party.

“I am a Republican, I am a conservative Republican, I would love to vote for a Republican to enter the White House, but given the kind of campaign our candidate has run and the kinds of positions he has espoused, I can’t do so,” said Flake. “I am very concerned about the future of the Republican party if we embrace the kinds of positions and rhetoric that has been used.”

When asked during the question and answer portion of the town hall why Trump has received so much support, when so many people thought he would have been out of the race long before now, Flake sees it coming from over promising what can be done in the federal government.

In order for the party to turn around before November, Flake would like to see Trump disavow the language he has used and the positions he has taken. If that were done he could see a larger section of Republicans and Independents rally behind the candidate.

Among all the talk of free trade and Trump, several other issues pertaining to Arizonans were addressed such as the long-lasting drought the state has been suffering through, as well as immigration reform. However, these topics were not as fleshed out as those mentioned earlier.

“He talked about a lot of topics which meant he didn’t really go into depth about many things, but I thought it was good that he touched on the issues facing Republicans,” said ASU School of Public Affairs student Victoria Grijalva Ochoa. “When he talked about immigration it seemed like he talked a lot about what happened with past legislation rather than what will happen.”

Others in attendance thought merely touching on the issues was enough.“I felt the Senator did a good job addressing important issues for Arizonans, particularly issues of immigration and education,” said ASU Director of Outreach and Advisor to the Senior Vice President of Educational Outreach & Student Services Anita Verdugo Tarango.

137 people were registeed in attendance at the event and the public was invited to walk-in and listen; however, the front rows of the Armstrong Great Hall remained sparsely populated.

“It was interesting to see there weren’t many students here considering the area,” said Grijalva Ochoa. “I thought a lot more students would have attended considering the types of students located downtown.”