Jeff Flake: We Saw Earlier This Week in Helsinki What Was a Truly an Orwellian Moment

EXCERPT:

FLAKE: "Mr. President, in his dystopian novel '1984,' George Orwell wrote, 'A party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.' Well, we saw earlier this week in Helsinki what was truly an Orwellian moment. What we saw earlier this week in Helsinki is what happens when you wage war on objective reality for nearly two solid years, calling real things fake and fake things real, as if conditioning others to embrace the same confusion. Ultimately you’re rendered unable to tell the difference between the two and are at critical times seemingly rendered incapable of thinking clearly. Your mind, a hash of conspiracy theory and fragments of old talking points, deployed in response to a question no one even asked. Ultimately you fail to summon reality in the face of a despot in defense of your country. It wasn’t a hard question, Mr. President."