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Jeff Flake Endorses Kamala Harris for President: Here's Why

Posted on by Vanessa
Jeff Flake Endorses Kamala Harris for President: Here's Why

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Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake is supporting Vice President Kamala Harris because of his conservative values ​​— not in spite of them — he said Saturday in an interview announcing his support for the Democratic presidential candidate.

Flake, R-Arizona, crosses party lines and supports a Democrat for the second straight term. He supported President Joe Biden in 2020 over former Republican President Donald Trump and voted not for Trump but for third parties in 2016.

“I am a conservative. I believe in the rule of law,” Flake said during an interview at Nile Coffee Shop in Mesa on Saturday afternoon. “First and foremost, I want to support a presidential candidate who respects the rule of law, someone who, if he loses an election, would not try to use the powers of the presidency to overturn that election.”

Flake made his endorsement just 37 days before Election Day, at a time when the vice president could use a boost in Arizona. Polls show Harris and Trump in a close battle for the White House, with Trump slightly ahead and leading on the issues voters say are most important.

The endorsement is part of a larger effort by Harris to reach Republicans and independents in Arizona who, like Flake, may not agree with her on every policy but are turned off by Trump's bombastic policies and election denial.

“If you are a conservative, you believe in the rule of law and limited government, economic freedom, individual responsibility and free trade. And I think if you look at the two candidates, Kamala Harris represents more of those views than Donald Trump,” Flake said. “I don’t agree with everything the Harris campaign has put out. That's not necessary. I have never agreed to the entire platform of any Republican I voted for.”

Flake worked with both Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, during his time in Washington and said he got to know the character of both candidates there. Flake and Harris served on the Senate Judiciary Committee together, and Flake met Walz even earlier when they served in the House.

Flake spoke with Walz a few days ago and had a “good discussion,” he noted.

Flake just returned to the United States three weeks ago from serving as ambassador to Turkey. He said he supported Harris as soon as possible, now that his official duties were over and he was back on U.S. soil. Biden nominated Flake to be U.S. ambassador to Turkey in 2021 and he assumed the post in 2022.

During the interview, Flake addressed the news that New York Mayor Eric Adams was accused of accepting bribes from Turkish nationals, including a member of the Turkish government. Flake said most of the alleged activities occurred before he became ambassador and he was surprised by what he read in the indictment. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is handling the case.

“Pretty bold,” Flake said. “It's really a shame. But after serving in Turkey, it never came up. I never had any of it.”

However, Flake worked with the Southern District of New York on a different issue: the return to Turkey of stolen cultural artifacts that were in museums or private collections in the United States

The Republican diplomat had a front row seat to the escalating problems in the Middle East and cited foreign policy as the main reason he supported Harris over Trump. Flake also noted that tariffs and immigration were the biggest sticking points.

“Your support for our allies abroad is important to me. It is important to recognize that tariffs would actually increase inflation and increase costs for US consumers. And their recognition that immigration reform is important and number two that it needs to be bipartisan,” Flake said.

A day earlier, Harris gave a speech on border security in Arizona in which she promised to go further than Biden to curb illegal immigration. Harris visited the U.S.-Mexico border wall and participated in briefings with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials during her visit Friday.

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Kamala Harris visits Arizona border town and talks safety

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about border security during a visit to Douglas, Arizona, on September 27, 2024.

Harris said in his remarks that the country's immigration policy should be both “orderly” and “humane,” pledging to crack down on people who cross the border illegally and bring criminal charges against repeat offenders.

“I wasn't surprised that she had tougher policies than Joe Biden's,” Flake said. “And I welcome it. I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Harris also said she is more serious about tackling immigration than Trump, who has promised to carry out mass deportations and complete the U.S.-Mexico border wall when he returns to the White House. Trump frequently criticizes Harris for record-breaking encounters with migrants at the southern border during Biden's term.

Flake has been a vocal Trump critic for well over half a decade, criticizing the former president's political style, his penchant for tariffs and his views on immigration. He paid the price and faced sharp criticism in 2017 from the former president and a Trump-aligned primary challenger.

“I have never supported Donald Trump. I didn't do that in 2016. I didn't do that in 2020 either. And there has been no behavior in the last four years that would make me support him this time,” Flake said. “Kamala Harris, I served with her in the Senate. I know her character.”

Flake decided not to seek re-election in 2018, saying, “There may be no place for a Republican like me in the new GOP.” Four years later, the Arizona Republican Party censured him for supporting Biden.

Still, Flake said he is optimistic that Americans can find a way back to more traditional political debates about politics. He said Trump was “really bad for conservatism and bad for Republicans” and that “malice and resentment simply have no future.”

“At some point, Republicans get tired of losing,” Flake said, pointing to Democratic victories across the country and in Arizona in recent years.

Since Flake left office, Democrats have taken both Senate seats, the governor's office, the secretary of state's office and the state attorney general's office. Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego is ahead in this year's Senate race against Trump supporter Kari Lake, a former local news anchor.

“This is a red state, and if you run as a traditional Republican, you can win in Arizona,” Flake said. “The problem is that you can't win in Arizona if you run as a MAGA Republican who denies that President Trump lost the last election, you know, and embraces his righteous, hypocritical policies – and that's what it says. “Arizona voters.”

Harris has signaled that she plans to nominate a Republican to her Cabinet if she is elected president, but Flake dismissed speculation that he would join a potential Harris administration.

“That’s not what I’m looking for,” Flake said.

Flake also commented on a recent claim by Sen. JD Vance, Trump's running mate from Ohio, that the late Republican Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would not vote for Harris if he were alive today. McCain's son, Jim McCain, had just thrown his support behind Harris and registered as a Democrat.

“I would never pretend to be able to say how someone is going to vote. And I would suggest that anyone who does that is exaggerating if they try to make that assumption,” Flake said.

Trump, for his part, did not reach out to Flake for an endorsement this election cycle. The pair have not spoken since Flake was in the Senate and Trump was in the White House. Flake isn't worried about the former president's reaction to his Harris endorsement.

“Maybe he calls me, I don't know, 'Flaky Flake' or whatever he called me before,” Flake said. “I don't mind.”

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