In a surprising move, Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona announced on the Senate floor Tuesday that he wouldn’t be seeking re-election in 2018. In his speech, he cited the outlandishness of President Donald Trump, his job performance, and the current state of politics as the reasons for his resignation — effective January 2019.
“There are times when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles, now is such a time,” he said during his speech. “It is time for our complicity and our accommodation of the unacceptable to end.”
Watch a video of Flake’s full speech at the top of the page.
Flake has been a harsh critic of Trump ever since he took office and has been outspoken against him on numerous occasions. He told The Arizona Republic before his speech that he became “convinced there may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or the current Republican Party.”
“The personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms and institution, the flagrent disregard for truth and decency,” Flake said. “The reckless provocations most often for the pettiest and most personal reasons. Reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with the fortunes of the people that we have been elected to serve.”
“Mr. President, I rise today to say, enough,” Flake said. “I have children and grandchildren to answer to. And so, Mr. President, I will not be complicit or silent”
Flake’s speech was met with raucous applause by many of his colleagues in the Senate chamber.
Flake’s bombshell announcement creates further tensions in the Senate as the GOP hopes it can maintain its 52-seat majority following the midterm elections. Flake has served as a junior senator alongside Sen. John McCain since 2013. He decided to run for Senate in 2012 and defeated three Republican challengers in the primary and narrowly prevailed in the general election (49.2 percent to 46.2 percent).
In August, Flake released a new book. In an excerpt, Flake wrote that the Republican party was in denial of Trump’s presidency.
It was we conservatives who rightly and robustly asserted our constitutional prerogatives as a co-equal branch of government when a Democrat was in the White House but who, despite solemn vows to do the same in the event of a Trump presidency, have maintained an unnerving silence as instability has ensued.
To carry on in the spring of 2017 as if what was happening was anything approaching normalcy required a determined suspension of critical faculties. And tremendous powers of denial … If ultimately our principles were so malleable as to no longer be principles, then what was the point of political victories in the first place?
“I’ve been concerned for quite some time,” Flake said during an interview with MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski.
On September 26, Republican Sen. Bob Corker from Tennessee announced he wouldn’t seek re-election in 2018 for reasons similar to Flakes. He served in the Senate since he was elected to the seat in 2006.
“When I ran for the Senate in 2006, I told people that I couldn’t imagine serving for more than two terms,” Corker said in a statement.” Understandably, as we have gained influence, that decision has become more difficult. But I have always been drawn to the citizen legislator model, and while I realize it is not for everyone, I believe with the kind of service I provide, it is the right one for me.”
Since Corker’s announcement, Trump has taken jabs at the senator on Twitter and to media members.
During a harshly-worded interview with The New York Times, Corker spoke out against Trump.
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