• The Gaggle: Shooter's harassment scandal, foster-care boards

    The Gaggle: Shooter’s harassment scandal, foster-care boards

  • The Gaggle: Sex harassment in AZ's Legislature

    The Gaggle: Sex harassment in AZ’s Legislature

  • The Gaggle: Senate race, Bisbee bag ban, KidsCare

    The Gaggle: Senate race, Bisbee bag ban, KidsCare

  • The Gaggle: Flake out; Legislature harassment

    The Gaggle: Flake out; Legislature harassment

  • The Gaggle: Ducey shows us the money, Bannon's visit, Gosar's family feud

    The Gaggle: Ducey shows us the money, Bannon’s visit, Gosar’s family feud

  • The Gaggle: Arizona elections, school letter grades, Paul Gosar on Charlottesville

    The Gaggle: Arizona elections, school letter grades, Paul Gosar on Charlottesville

  • The Gaggle: DCS lawsuit, Senate race

    The Gaggle: DCS lawsuit, Senate race

  • The Gaggle: Russia hack, another ACA repeal

    The Gaggle: Russia hack, another ACA repeal

  • The Gaggle: Trump rally costs, gay couple's rights

    The Gaggle: Trump rally costs, gay couple’s rights

  • The Gaggle: Mark Brnovich sues Arizona Regents, Constitutional Planning Convention

    The Gaggle: Mark Brnovich sues Arizona Regents, Constitutional Planning Convention

  • The Gaggle: State school vouchers, DACA and Hurricane Harvey relief

    The Gaggle: State school vouchers, DACA and Hurricane Harvey relief

  • The Gaggle: Arpaio pardon, future of DACA and Flake's re-election campaign

    The Gaggle: Arpaio pardon, future of DACA and Flake’s re-election campaign

  • The Gaggle: Trump's visit, school voucher referendum update

    The Gaggle: Trump’s visit, school voucher referendum update

  • The Gaggle:  Trump's Phoenix rally, Arpaio pardon and Sinema's run

    The Gaggle: Trump’s Phoenix rally, Arpaio pardon and Sinema’s run

  • The Gaggle: Flake's new book, health care and bipartiship

    The Gaggle: Flake’s new book, health care and bipartiship

  • The Gaggle: McCain's return to the Senate and more

    The Gaggle: McCain’s return to the Senate and more

  • The Gaggle: School voucher petition, health care and McSally

    The Gaggle: School voucher petition, health care and McSally

  • The Gaggle: Health bill, school-voucher program

    The Gaggle: Health bill, school-voucher program

  • The Gaggle: Foster families, Trump's agenda and voter information

    The Gaggle: Foster families, Trump’s agenda and voter information

  • The Gaggle: Arizona's Teacher Shortage

    The Gaggle: Arizona’s Teacher Shortage

  • The Gaggle: A Secret Recording, Mexico Trade and Kids' Health

    The Gaggle: A Secret Recording, Mexico Trade and Kids’ Health

  • The Gaggle: The governor's race and infrastructure funding

    The Gaggle: The governor’s race and infrastructure funding

  • The Gaggle: Corporation Commission scandal and renewing an AUMF

    The Gaggle: Corporation Commission scandal and renewing an AUMF

  • The Gaggle: McCain Trump feud, Ducey's veto pen and Phoenix city hall

    The Gaggle: McCain Trump feud, Ducey’s veto pen and Phoenix city hall

  • The Gaggle: Unfinished business and hallway laments

    The Gaggle: Unfinished business and hallway laments

  • The Gaggle: Legislative session recap, May 2017

    The Gaggle: Legislative session recap, May 2017

  • The Gaggle:  Teachers protesting, a budget afoot and what's up with Stanton?

    The Gaggle: Teachers protesting, a budget afoot and what’s up with Stanton?

  • The Gaggle: Voucher vote, Arizona university funding

    The Gaggle: Voucher vote, Arizona university funding

  • The Gaggle: DCS warrants and Flake gets scorched

    The Gaggle: DCS warrants and Flake gets scorched

  • The Gaggle: Health care in Congress and school voucher expansion

    The Gaggle: Health care in Congress and school voucher expansion

  • The Gaggle: Is the filibuster busted and will Michele Reagan show us the money?

    The Gaggle: Is the filibuster busted and will Michele Reagan show us the money?

  • The Gaggle: Teacher raises, ACA repeal and ballot initiatives

    The Gaggle: Teacher raises, ACA repeal and ballot initiatives

  • The Gaggle: Federal budget and few women in the Legislature

    The Gaggle: Federal budget and few women in the Legislature

  • The Gaggle: Obamacare replacement, George W. in town and TANF benefits

    The Gaggle: Obamacare replacement, George W. in town and TANF benefits

  • The Gaggle: Tax that did not get cut, tweets from Gosar and a non-job

    The Gaggle: Tax that did not get cut, tweets from Gosar and a non-job

  • The Gaggle: SB 1142 is dead and town halls get rowdy

    The Gaggle: SB 1142 is dead and town halls get rowdy

  • The Gaggle: Bigfooted, McCain and HB 2404

    The Gaggle: Bigfooted, McCain and HB 2404

  • The Gaggle: How much debt is too much?

    The Gaggle: How much debt is too much?

Mesa Mayor John Giles encouraged Sen. Jeff Flake to run for president in 2020 and appeared to call President Donald Trump an “idiot,” according to a video captured by ABC 15.

Flake had just finished speaking at an event at aerospace company GECO on Nov. 17 when Giles approached the senator. The two, apparently unaware that the audio was still recording, briefly discussed Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore and the president.

In video that the station reports is cut off at the beginning, likely clipping the words “if we,” Flake said, “… become the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump, we are toast.”

Giles responds, “And I am not throwing smoke at you, but you’re the guy that could just for fun, think about how much fun it would be, just to be the foil, you know, and to point out what an idiot this guy is.”

It appears Giles is referring to the president of the United States. Earlier at the event, Giles asked Flake about running for president, according to the ABC 15 report.

In an Oct. 31 interview with The Arizona Republic, the mayor said he was planning to encourage Flake, who lives in Mesa, to run for president.

SEE ALSO: Flake announces he will not seek re-election

A spokeswoman for Giles offered an emailed statement in response to questions:

“As a life-long conservative Republican, I am troubled when candidates like Roy Moore send the wrong message about my party’s ethics and policies. We need more people like Jeff Flake in the US Senate, not Roy Moore.”

Flake, an outspoken critic of Trump, tweeted out earlier in the week that there was “no doubt” he’d vote for a Democrat over Roy Moore if faced with the choice.

The mayor, along with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, also recently disparaged the Republican tax bill that cleared the house this week, calling for Congress to start over and work with municipalities. In a statement posted online, Giles says home values will drop with the proposed tax plan.

“This is a bold example of reaping federal revenue at the expense of local government,” he said.

SEE ALSOMesa is nation’s most conservative city, study finds

Giles is the chairman of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority Board of Directors. The authority hopes to create a Mexican customs site at the airport, which would likely take the cooperation of the federal government.

TALKING POLITICS: Listen to our Arizona politics podcast, The Gaggle, on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Stitcher or Google Play.

READ MORE:

Bannon’s visit to Tucson already creating tension

Too soon for Flake to say ‘I told you so’ about Moore?

McCain and Flake now unleashed to take on Trump

Former Mesa officer’s murder trial: What we know

Mesa group revives push for youth-sports complex

Read or Share this story: http://azc.cc/2APNTwf