Wouldn’t it be nice if politicians faded into the distance after holding office?
Too many of them, like Jeff Flake, try to maintain their time in the limelight when they are no longer relevant.
The former United States Senator from Arizona, gave an interview with the Washington Post in which he gave his outlook on Trump, the 2020 election, and the state of the Republican party.
Flake, as always, couldn’t hold back from giving his negative opinion of the President.
Check out details from CNN on the interview:
Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake says a “sound defeat” of President Donald Trump in November’s election would be better long term for the Republican Party, adding that he would be comfortable voting for a Democrat instead of his own party’s standard bearer.
Flake, a longtime Trump critic who has before argued that the Republican Party should not support Trump in the 2020 election, was asked about the future of the GOP in an interview with The Washington Post.
“I don’t know anyone who thinks that this is the future of the party. This is a demographic cul-de-sac we’re in, if nothing else. Anger and resentment only go so far; you have to have a governing philosophy,” the Arizona conservative said.
“I don’t know of any of my colleagues who really believe this is it. I just couldn’t support [Donald Trump] long before he started to run. The birtherism thing was just too much for me. And then it piled on,” he continued.
While he served in the Senate, Flake was one of the President’s most vocal Republican critics, despite being a staunch conservative who almost always voted with the GOP majority. Rather than running what was likely to be a losing reelection battle, Flake opted to retire.
While some Republicans have urged Flake to run against Trump, he ruled out a primary run in January.
Asked again if either a second term for Trump or a defeat in November would be better for the country by the Washington Post, Flake doubled down on his previous position.
“Oh, a sound defeat, no doubt. Long term for the Republican Party, you bet. And for conservatism as well.”
So in order to win, the Republican Party must now lose?
President Trump has done more to advance the party than Jeff Flake ever did. He’s tackled trade deficits, enacted sweeping tax cuts, and now he’s combating a pandemic.
Take a look at reactions on Twitter to Flake’s announcement:
It seems that many agree we shouldn't really care who the former senator votes for.Â
According to The Hill, it wouldn't even be the first time he's voted Democrat. Here's what they had to report:
"So for young people who've grown up around minorities or had a different experience than a lot of us in my generation, they don't harbor, I think, some of the prejudices that people in my generation do," Flake said.
He added that a Trump defeat November would be a "long-term" benefit for the Republican Party and "conservatism as well."
"This won't be the first time I've voted for a Democrat — though not for president. Last time I voted for a third-party candidate," he said. "But I will not vote for Donald Trump."
He also predicted that the GOP would change once Trump is out of the Oval Office.
"The pendulum swings when one party takes it too far," he said. "We'll be ourselves again."
Flake, 57, served in the Senate from 2013 to 2019, and was in the House of Representatives for six terms prior to that.
As a senator, he criticized Trump on multiple issues, including the president's negative comments about the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2015.
Flake was also "shocked" to find out his friend and former House colleague, Mike Pence, was nominated as Trump's running mate in 2016, according to Politico.
It doesn't even come as a suprise that Flake won't be voting for Trump. He said he wasn't planning on it over a year ago and that he'd vote for a Democrat like Amy Klobuchar or Joe Biden.
Watch his appearance on CBS here:
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