It’s always former Republicans who speak out against Donald Trump’s godawful presidency, but this isn’t Jeff Flake’s first ride in the rodeo. Flake has been and continues to be a frequent critic of Trump’s, much to the president’s chagrin. The former Republican Senator has quite a résumé after representing Arizona in the U.S. Senate from 2013 to 2019, and for six terms in the House of Representatives before that.
Flake has had it and believes that Trump has put the Republican party in peril. He’s not wrong.
“I just couldn’t support [Trump] long before he started to run. The birtherism thing was just too much for me. And then it piled on,” Flake told the Washington Post.
Flake said that issues like immigration and the environment could turn young voters away from his party. Those are two issues that Trump has never respected.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
“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 told the news outlet.
Flake went on to say that defeating Trump in November would benefit the Republican party in the “long-term” and “conservatism as well.” Then Flake seemed to suggest that he would vote for Democratic presumptive nominee Joe Biden, although he didn’t come out and say it exactly.
“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,” Flake said. “But I will not vote for Donald Trump.”
Flake added that his party could come back after Trump is out of office.
“The pendulum swings when one party takes it too far,” he added. “We’ll be ourselves again.”
On his colleagues, Flake said he has been “puzzled by the trade-off some have made.”
There are some who think: Well, we’re getting some good conservative policy, good conservative judges, tax and regulatory reform. But I know that everyone worries about what this does to the standing of the party, long term. For the most part, it’s just trying to just stay in office, so you can fight another day. Maybe outlast the president.”
Flake voted along party lines with Trump while in office, but he’s been vocal over the president’s appalling views on multiple occasions. We’re not sure whether anything can save the Republican party since Trump is the face of the GOP now. However, we’ll take all the help we can get in getting the most dangerous president in history out of office. If only more Republicans would put country over party — but that’s too much to ask of the current Republican party, I suppose.
Featured image via Political Tribune gallery
Like what you see here? Join the discussion on Facebook over at Americans For Sanity!
