It’s been less than a month since Trump – after much heckling and arm twisting – buried the hatched with Paul Ryan, John McCain, and Kelly Ayotte. Since then, Trump has managed to avoid picking pointless fights with elected Republicans – which has helped him consolidate his relationship with Republicans and close the gap on Hillary Clinton.

Welp.

The Great State of Arizona, where I just had a massive rally (amazing people), has a very weak and ineffective Senator, Jeff Flake. Sad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2016

Incredible. Apparently, what set Trump off was that Flake went on Tapper today and did not kiss the Trump pinky ring. Now, what does that matter to Donald Trump? Very little. If he needs Jeff Flake’s help to win Arizona, he is screwed anyway and likely looking at an electoral landslide. If he doesn’t, what does he have to lose by taking the high road?

Imagine an alternate universe in which Trump, after winning Indiana, refused to engage any high profile Republicans in a fight. Every time someone like Ted Cruz or Paul Ryan or John McCain or Jeff Flake said something, Trump responded with a smile and a “Sorry he feels that way. I’ll be focused on keeping Crooked Hillary out of the White House and I hope that eventually he joins us in that effort, but if he does not, we plan to do our best to win anyway.”

Does anyone have the slightest belief that Trump would be at least tied with Hillary right now, if not leading her? I’ve repeatedly noted that the reason Hillary is winning is because she is carrying 90%+ of Dems while Trump is carrying barely 80% of Republicans.

Anyway, if Trump were capable of understanding this point, he wouldn’t be Trump. It’s almost a waste of time to point it out anymore.