Exclusive — FreedomWorks’ Adam Brandon on Jeff Flake: ‘If You’re Electoral Strategy Is Cozying up to Mitch McConnell, You’re Done’

FreedomWorks’ President Adam Brandon told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview that if Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) or any other candidate cozies “up to Mitch McConnell, you’re done, that’s it.”

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) announced on Tuesday that he will retire at the end of his term in 2018. Flake was a frequent critic of President Donald Trump.

FreedomWorks’ Brandon said, “People that say they’re not going to run again means that they’re not going to win again.”

Brandon told Breitbart News that Flake lost support in his home state because he alienated the Trump conservative and nationalist-populist base. The FreedomWorks president argued that Republican candidates need the Trump base to win both the primary and the general election.

“You’re not going to win the Republican primary if you’ve alienated the Trump base. You’re not going to win a general election if you’ve alienated the Trump base. That means he had himself in a position where he wasn’t going to win reelection,” Brandon explained.

“If you’re electoral strategy is cozying up to Mitch McConnell, you’re done, that’s it,” Brandon added.

Brandon then said, “People are demanding that politicians legislate like they campaigned.”

The FreedomWorks president that Americans are getting tired of the Senate’s inability to pass legislation. FreedomWorks, along with the Tea Party Patriots, and the Senate Conservatives Fund, called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Senate Republican leadership to resign. The conservatives argued that the Senate Republican leadership failed to carry out the president’s agenda, which includes repealing Obamacare, passing a tax reform package, confirming over 200 Trump executive and judicial nominees, and funding a southern border wall.

Brandon charged, “Things are moving out the House and then go the Senate to die. People don’t look at the failure to get things done on Paul Ryan or Donald Trump, they blame Mitch McConnell right now. Senators that have not been getting things done, it’s hard to get things done.”

“This is very good news for Kelli Ward,” Brandon said. He added that many other well-qualified candidates could fill in Flake’s seat. “I think you’re going to get a great candidate out of Arizona.”

Brandon then said, “The main lesson is that the old ways of Washington are going away. Washington is always behind trends. The old trend in Washington is that you campaign on your rhetoric and then you get to D.C. and you go along to get along and then the leadership raises money and then they’re able to buy massive amounts of television ads. What changed is what happened with people like Mike Lee when conservatives would run and win. Money is declining in importance.”

Brandon concluded, “People are looking for authenticity. You can’t buy authenticity. So candidates that run and act like they campaigned will get support from the grassroots. Those that they are in trouble. There’s not enough money in the world to bail them out.”