Republican Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) presented a powerful criticism of President Trump and his "complicit" colleagues when he took to the Senate floor Tuesday to announce his decision to not run for re-election in 2018. "It is time for our complicity and our accommodation of the unacceptable to end," Flake said.
Prior to his speech, Flake had told The Arizona Republic that "there may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or the current Republican Party." He offered no hesitation on that subject Tuesday, telling his colleagues that the GOP has become a "fearful, backward-looking minority party."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Flake further asked his fellow senators what they would tell future generations when asked "why didn't you speak up?" He then answered his own question: "Mr. President, I rise today to say 'enough.'" Watch below. Jeva Lange
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
