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Republic Senator Jeff Flake is leaving Congress in coming days but calls for somebody does need to challenge President Donald Trump
Saturday, December 29, 2018
GOP Sen. Jeffry Lane Flake, 56, calls for somebody does need to challenge the president |
Born in Snowflake, Arizona, Flake attended Brigham Young University, from which he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations and later his Master of Arts degree in political science. In the early 1980s he became a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Africa, where he learned to speak Afrikaans. After returning to the United States, Flake served as Executive Director of the Goldwater Institute before being elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st congressional district in 2001. He served as the representative for the 1st district until renumbering following the 2000 census redefined the district to be Arizona's 6th congressional district, which he then represented until he entered the Senate in 2013.
Flake sought the Republican nomination for the 2012 Senate election after incumbent Jon Kyl announced his retirement. He defeated Democratic candidate and former Surgeon General Richard Carmona in the general election.
Flake was one of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" U.S. senators that pushed an immigration reform bill through the Senate in 2013. He is known as a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, but has generally voted in line with Trump's position. Flake announced on October 24, 2017, that he would not seek re-election in 2018 (Wikipedia).
On October 25, 2017, FOX News reported that U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., facing a tough primary fight, announced he will not seek re-election next year -- while taking a parting shot on the Senate floor at President Donald Trump for behavior he called "reckless, outrageous, and undignified."
Without mentioning the president by name, Flake accused the Republican Party of having "given in or given up on the core principles in favor of a more viscerally satisfying anger and resentment ... but anger and resentment are not a governing philosophy."
Flake has had a tumultuous relationship with the Trump administration. In August, he criticized the president's immigration policy in a New York Times opinion piece. The president tweeted in response that Flake was "WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in the Senate."
Flake, 54, was elected to the Senate in 2012 after 12 years in the House of Representatives.
Republic Sen. Jeff Flake in a CNN interview Friday said: "“You know, there are others that seem more willing than I am,” Flake said. “I’ve been doing this for 18 years now. It’s nice to look forward to a little break, but somebody does need to challenge the president.”
Flake has parted with President Donald Trump over his rhetoric and behavior, he’s maintained a staunchly conservative voting record, and appears to be in search of a candidate who will restore tradition to the GOP.
Read this news from HuffPost on Yahoo News at: https://news.yahoo.com/jeff-flake-won-apos-t-110405088.html
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Jeff Flake Won't Rule Out 2020 Run: 'Somebody Needs To' Challenge Trump
Amy Russo,
Outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is leaving Congress in the coming days, but he isn’t yet crossing a presidential run off his list of possibilities.
In a CNN interview Friday, the politico initially beat around the bush when prompted by the network’s Jim Acosta to say whether he’d launch a 2020 campaign.
“You know, there are others that seem more willing than I am,” Flake said. “I’ve been doing this for 18 years now. It’s nice to look forward to a little break, but somebody does need to challenge the president.”
That’s when Acosta doubled down on his question, pushing the senator to offer more of an answer on his future plans.
“Like I said, I haven’t ruled it out,” Flake said. “I’m a long way from there, but somebody needs to and I think that the country needs to be reminded of what it means to be conservative, certainly on the Republican side, and what it means to be decent as well, because we need a lot more of that in our politics.”
While Flake has parted with President Donald Trump over his rhetoric and behavior, he’s maintained a staunchly conservative voting record, and appears to be in search of a candidate who will restore tradition to the GOP.
Calling for civility in Washington, Flake said “both parties need to be rational and sane and try to govern rather than simply put forward the politics of resentment and anger.”
If the right can’t work out its image issues, Flake warned, the party could be “on its way out” without the realization that it needs to expand its appeal beyond its base.
Flake, who has had an openly tumultuous relationship with Trump, criticized him for blaming Democrats for the federal government shutdown, which has now entered its eighth day as Congress remains in a standoff over a spending bill including money to build a border wall.
“Anytime you stand and say ‘I own the shutdown,’ then you own it,” he told Acosta, adding,”‘Shutdown 101’ tells you ‘shift the blame if you can.’ And when the president immediately said, ‘I’ll take the blame,’ then he’s got it.”
- This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
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