Conscience of a Conservative

“Conscience of a Conservative . . . is a thoughtful defense of traditional conservatism and a thorough assault on the way Donald Trump is betraying it. . . . Flake is in most ways an ideal public servant. He is an ideological purist but a temperamental conciliator. On spending and free trade he takes lonely principled stands; on immigration he’s crafted difficult bipartisan compromises.”—David Brooks, New York Times
 
“It’s striking how many influential figures in this slim volume he manages to impale with a stick and then lightly spit-roast. . . . He offers a despairing, unsparing indictment of everyone in Congress who went along with Trump’s election.”—Jennifer Senior, The New York Times
 
“No major elected Republican has provided a comprehensive critique of Trumpism itself. Until now. Sen. Jeff Flake’s new book, Conscience of a Conservative, is a white-hot indictment of Republican cowardice in the face of a hostile ideological takeover. It also represents the single largest act of political bravery of the Trump era.”—Michael Gerson, The Washington Post
 
“He presses his colleagues to call out Trump’s various attacks on conservatism, democracy, and reason. In this respect, Conscience of a Conservative may be the most clear-eyed and righteous takedown of Donald Trump from a Republican in office. . . . Conscience of a Conservative is a lucid look at what ails the Republican Party.”—New Republic
 
“Flake is correct that the market for the politics of inclusion and expansion has shrunk, and that Trump represents a singular threat to it. With this book, he has put his political career on the line in an attempt to expand it.”—USA Today
 
“The book attempts to reckon with what conservatism means in the age of Donald Trump, and its power comes from Flake’s probing of his party’s complicity in Trump’s ascendance. . . . It remains true that for all the denunciations of Trump, it isn’t yet clear how rising conservative politicians will map a future in opposition to Trump, and what form a Republican resistance to the drift of the Party might take. Flake’s book is a start.”—The New Yorker
 
“Flake, a NeverTrumper from the start, has written by far the toughest anti-Trump critique yet to be delivered by a Republican politician currently holding high office.”—New York
 
“Flake is taking a stance only a few conservatives are willing to take publicly.”—Forbes
 
“In the most remarkable example of public Trump-bashing, Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona is taking aim at the president.”—Time
 
“Flake is channeling his state’s rich tradition as Western outsiders.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“Flake’s 136-page manifesto pulls no punches. . . . There are humanizing elements and personal reflections throughout that give a glimpse into how his upbringing and faith have shaped his conservative worldview.”—NPR