Great to see that Dr. Kelli Ward is running against Flake Jeff Flake, who is WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate. He's toxic!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
Hayworth called Flake "toxic"; the President echoed it in the tweet. Hayworth deftly side-stepped the question about whether the President would rather support a different Flake challenger than Ward; so did the President.
Yesterday, Arizona's Politics reported on Ward's rejection of the anonymous speculation in the Washington Times that Trump had "soured on Ward". Ward called that "fake news." This morning's tweet certainly seems to validate Ward's remarks, as well as validating people who had told us that current Arizona Treasurer and Trump campaign CFO Jeff DeWit was not going to throw his hat into the anti-Flake ring.
But, the idea that Trump's tweet was a planned-out announcement of support for Ward and a subtle indicator that his campaign CFO was staying out of the race took a hit when viewed in light of Hayworth's Fox & Friends appearance several minutes earlier.
After dismissing Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton's call for a rally delay as "grandstanding", Hayworth hit his stride. "Jeff Flake is toxic! According to one poll, he only has an 18% approval rating. Dr. Kelli Ward is out working hard, her spots are already up on radio and television. She gave John McCain a great race in the primary in 2016 - in fact, performed better than I did in 2010 - she's got the momentum, she's gaining some of the money. Keep your eyes on Kelli Ward."
When served a softball about the Trump/Flake relationship, Hayworth swung: "Nonexistent. Jeff has done his best to be obnoxious, to be the smirking Senator that he's really known to be."
Flake and Hayworth were Arizona House Republican colleagues for several years.
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