Republican senator caught on live mic saying party is 'toast' under Trump

A Republican Senator has been caught on a live mic saying his party will be “toast” if it becomes synonymous with President Donald Trump.

Senator Jeff Flake thought he was having a private conversation with Mesa, Arizona Mayor John Giles at a recent tax event. The Senator, however, forgot to remove a mic from local news station KNXV from his lapel. The live mic caught snippets of the exchange, in which the Arizona Senator criticised both Mr Trump and Senate candidate Roy Moore.

"If we become the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump, we are toast," he said.

When a man walked by and pointed to the mic still sitting on his lapel, the Senator appeared surprised.

Roy Moore, the Senate candidate Mr Flake mentioned, has been accused by several women of sexually harassing or assaulting them when they were teenagers. Though Mr Moore has denied the allegations, they have still sparked outcry across the country. Mr Flake is one of more than 30 Republicans in Congress who have urged Mr Moore to step down if the allegations are true.

"If there is any shred of truth to these stories, he ought to step aside. And now,” the Senator told ABC.

Mr Flake is also one of a handful of Republican Senators who have been openly critical of Mr Trump. In a speech on the Senate floor last month, Mr Flake condemned the "alarming and dangerous state of affairs" under Mr Trump’s leadership, claiming there was now a "flagrant disregard for truth or decency" and a "regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms".

“We were not made great as a country by indulging or even exalting our worst impulses, turning against ourselves, glorying in the things which divide us, and calling fake things true and true things fake,” he said.

The speech, in which he announced he would not be running for Senate again in 2018, was met with a standing ovation by some Republicans.

In the audio from the Arizona tax event, Mr Giles can be heard urging Mr Flake to run for president in the future.

"I am not throwing smoke at you, but you are the guy. Just for fun, think about how much fun it would be, just to be the foil, you know, and point out what an idiot this guy is," Mr Giles said, in what appears to be a reference to Mr Trump. "Anyway, I hope you do it."