Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said Thursday that he's not planning on leaving the Republican Party, dismissing his low poll numbers as "not very relevant" on MSNBC.
"[In] off year polls … incumbents are always down. It's not that they're inaccurate, they're probably accurate. It's just they're not very relevant right now," Flake said.
When asked if he would leave the GOP and campaign as an independent, the senator said, "I'm a Republican. I've been a lifelong Republican, and I think I'll stay one."
In his book, "Conscience of a Conservative," which came out earlier this year, Flake blasted President Donald Trump and the GOP for abandoning its conservative principles, though he said he would rather work from the inside to re-adjust the party.
Flake also addressed the healthcare bill submitted by his Republican colleagues, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, saying that he supports it as "a first step."
"There are 183,000 Arizonans who are paying the fine to the federal government because they can't afford care. Many of them, if not most of them, had insurance before the Affordable Care Act came along, [and] 80 percent are making less than $50,000 a year," he said.
"This doesn't fix everything with Obamacare. We're going to have to do that with a bipartisan bill. This is a first step," Flake said, adding that he's been in contact with fellow Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, and that he's unsure if the former presidential candidate will back the legislation.
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