WASHINGTON _ While many of his fellow Republicans are on the Republican National Convention floor in Cleveland calling for Hillary Clinton's imprisonment, Sen. Jeff Flake is not having it.
In a Medium post Wednesday, the Arizona Republican said that while he opposes the presumptive Democratic nominee, insisting that Clinton belonged in prison is similar to claiming that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya.
"These jokes and bromides may play well in rare venues and limited circles," said the first-term senator who is skipping this week's convention. "But they cheapen the very real arguments that need to be made to the broader public against a Hillary Clinton presidency."
Flake has been a frequent critic of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, and he endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio during the Republican primaries.
When Trump met with senators earlier this month, Flake introduced himself as "the other senator from Arizona _ the one who didn't get captured," a reference to Trump's earlier remarks about Arizona Sen. John McCain.
During speeches at the convention this week, delegates have referred to the former secretary of State with chants of "Lock her up," and speakers have equated her to a criminal.
Pat Smith, the mother of one of the victims of the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attack, said Monday that Clinton deserved to be "in stripes." New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie gave a whole speech Tuesday designed as a mock prosecution of Clinton, with him calling out charges against her and the audience roaring back with cries of "Guilty!"
