Flake says Senate should ‘quickly’ confirm Garland if Trump trails

Flake, speaking on NBC’s “Meet The Press” Sunday, said he believes Republicans are justified in waiting for the election to confirm President Obama’s nominee to the court. However, if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wins in November, he doesn’t want them to nominate their own justice.

“If we come to a point, I’ve said all along, where we’re going to lose the election, or we lose the election in November, then we ought to approve him quickly,” Flake said. “Because I’m certain that he’ll be more conservative than a Hillary Clinton nomination come January.”

Flake is among many prominent GOP lawmakers who have refused to endorse Trump.

Flake said he doesn’t plan to support Trump in the general election if he doesn’t back off his proposal to ban Muslims from coming into the United States.

He said he doesn’t anticipate a third-party challenge to Trump in the general election, and it’s important for Trump to soften some of his positions to win the election.

“He’s going to need to, we are well behind in the polls right now, and in order to win this election, if Republicans want to win, and we do, then we’ve got to change the approach, because we’re not going to win taking these positions,” Flake said.

While Flake recognizes Trump has a large amount of support among Republican voters, he said that’s not a good indication of how he’ll do in the general election.

Flake said Trump’s position on immigration might end up making him the top Republican candidate, but it’s unlikely to win him the White House.

“We’ve found in the past, and we’ve done an autopsy every time we come out of one of these elections that we, for example, need a better position on immigration,” Flake said. “Simply saying we’re going to deport 11 million people, that’s not a position you can take in a general election. It’s not a rational approach.”