Jeff Flake

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Jeff Flake
JeffFlake.jpg
Former U.S. Senator from Arizona
From: January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2019
Predecessor Jon Kyl
Successor Kyrsten Sinema
Former U.S. Representative from Arizona's 6th Congressional District
From: January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2013
Predecessor J. D. Hayworth
Successor David Schweikert
Former U.S. Representative from Arizona's 1st Congressional District
From: January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2003
Predecessor Matt Salmon
Successor Rick Renzi
Information
Party Republican
Spouse(s) Cheryl Flake
Religion The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Jeffrey Lane “Jeff” Flake, born December 31, 1962 (age 61), is a globalist and RINO who served as a United States Senator from Arizona, winning election to the Senate in 2012, after serving as a United States Representative from 2001 until 2013. After repeatedly opposing Donald Trump throughout the presidential campaign and even after he was elected president, Flake became unelectable, and at an age of only 54, Flake announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate rather than lose in a landslide for re-election. On January 23, 2021, Flake was formally censured by the Arizona Republican Party.[1]

Flake did not vote for Trump in the 2016 election[2][3] and indicated that he would prefer to see left-wing Democrat Hillary Clinton as president over Trump, a right-wing conservative.[4] Flake also opposed the reelection of conservative congressman Steve King.

Flake courted support by the Koch brothers who, like Flake, are very anti-Trump. However, apparently, the Kochs decided to cut their own losses by declining to fund futile efforts to re-elect Flake.

He is a member of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons). He has been pro-mass migration. Early in his career, before shifting to the political Left, he was conservative on other issues, as one of only eight Representatives in 2006 to receive a 100% rating from the American Conservative Union.[5] He is especially outspoken regarding the burden of earmarks on the taxpaying public. However, he has broken from many in his party on the issue of the Iraq War. In 2012, Flake was elected to the Senate seat then held by Jon Kyl.

When Flake first campaigned for Congress, he promised to limit himself to only serving three terms (six years). In early 2005, Flake announced that he was no longer going to retire after three terms and announced that he would seek re-election in 2006. Flake was re-elected in 2006 after his Democratic opponent was struck from the ballot for failure to have sufficient valid signatures on his nominating petition.

Globalist and left-wing positions

Flake takes numerous positions which qualify him as a RINO. These positions include his support for homosexuals serving in the military and giving amnesty to illegal immigrants.[6] Flake stated in 2017 that he regretted opposing the Wall Street bank bailouts in 2008 that conservatives opposed.[7] He criticized President Trump for deciding to leave the Iran nuclear deal that the Obama Administration negotiated,[8] despite claiming to oppose the deal when it was first negotiated.[9] Flake criticized President Trump's America First trade policy, and he criticized Trump Administration officials for taking a tough stance against foreign leaders hostile to that agenda.[10] He supports closer cooperation with the socialist and globalist European Union.[11] He has sided with left-wingers on human-caused climate change and criticized conservatives for leading on the issue rather than following the world on the issue.[12]

Even after liberal Democrat Barack Obama left office in 2017, Flake continued to keep in touch with him.[13] Flake made baseless allegations against Trump for things that Obama blatantly did, such as disregarding the Constitution, though he stayed silent regarding Obama.[14] He continued criticizing President Trump after leaving office.[15]

Obstructing judicial originalists and textualists

In June 2018, Flake illustrated his disregard for actually advancing conservative policies by blocking President Trump's conservative judicial nominees because he disliked the administration's America First trade policies.[16][17] He claimed he would stop his opposition to conservative judges after the Senate passed a symbolic resolution on the issue,[18] but he then announced he would go on a long vacation in Zimbabwe – where he spoke highly of the country's system of governance despite international outcry over its authoritarianism, despite comparing President Trump to authoritarians[19] – at a time when the Senate badly needed him to confirm conservative nominees.[20] In late September 2018, Flake was duped by the leader of a left-wing organization funded by George Soros into single-handedly delaying a Senate vote on conservative nominee Brett Kavanaugh.[21][22]

In November 2018, Flake announced he would not vote for any conservative judicial nominees until the Senate passed potentially unconstitutional legislation[23] to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller.[24] Because of Flake, the Senate Judiciary Committee was forced to cancel a meeting intended to vote on 21 originalist judges.[25] Not only did Flake not vote for the originalist judicial nominations, but he voted "no" against those judges whom he previously supported.[26]

Illegal immigration

Flake has been supportive of illegal immigration, along with foreign workers, and has favored them over American workers on numerous occasions in his political career.[27]

Flake grew up on a small family farm that employed illegal aliens. After immigration raids, Flake's parents rehired workers after they were deported and re-entered illegally, and they tried to stop the agents from deporting their illegal employees in the first place. However, all of this happened before 1986, when hiring illegal aliens became illegal.[28]

Flake has criticized Donald Trump for his national conservative positions and praised Jeb Bush for his support for amnesty for illegal aliens.[29] Flake stated that the GOP should follow the Republican National Committee's autopsy report that was adopted after Mitt Romney's 2012 election defeat saying that the party must adopt pro-illegal immigration and amnesty positions, even after Donald Trump was elected after taking the opposite route.[30]

Flake did not comment favorably on President Trump's pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.[31]

In October 2018, Flake stated that not only claimed that President Trump did not have the authority to end "Birthright Citizenship" for illegals and travelers, but that he "shouldn't" end it.[32] He claimed that the Trump Administration's sending of troops to help secure the southern border was "a stunt."[33]

Some conservatives have given Flake the nickname of "Sanctuary Senator" for his liberal immigration policies.[34]

Legal immigration

On August 2, 2017, Flake announced his opposition to the RAISE Act, which intends to reduce legal immigration levels and reform the U.S.'s immigration system to a merit-based system.[35] As his reasoning, Flake's Senate office stated that "We need to make sure we are responsive to the needs of our economy and I’m concerned that drastic cuts to the number of immigrants fails to meet that goal."[36]

In May 2018, Flake announced his opposition to President Trump's conservative nominee to the State Department's refugee bureau because of his conservative immigration views.[37]

Gun control

Flake supports raising the minimum age under federal law for buying rifles.[38] In 2018, Flake partnered with liberal California Senator Dianne Feinstein to push for additional gun control on assault rifles.[39]

Political endorsements

In November 2017, Flake endorsed Democrat Doug Jones, who takes very left-wing positions (even by national standards) on issues such as abortion, homosexuality, religious liberty, and gun control, over conservative Judge Roy Moore for Alabama Senator.[40] On December 5, 2017, Flake even wrote a check to the left-wing Democrat.[41] Even Ben Sasse, another opponent of Moore and "Never Trumper", noted that Flake's donation was "a bad idea" due to the Democrat's extreme positions on abortion.[42]

In November 2018, Flake stated he would support the left-wing Democrat challenger to strong conservative U.S. Representative Steve King.[43]

In March 2019, Flake stated that he preferred a leftist Democrat win the 2020 presidential election over conservative President Trump.[44] In August 2019, Flake named several Democrat candidates he would support over Trump.[45]

In August 2019, Flake donated to the liberal Democrat Maricopa County sheriff after being challenged by conservative Joe Arpaio.[46]

In August 2020, Flake endorsed far-left Democrat Joe Biden for President.[47]

False claims

In September 2019 during the midst of the impeachment coup against Trump, Flake said that "at least 35" Republican senators would secretly vote to impeach.[48] His own approval rating in Arizona tanked in 2017 after opposing Trump.[49]

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/arizona-gop-censure-mccain-flake-ducey
  2. ↑ Manchester, Julia (October 25, 2017). Flake: ‘I didn’t vote for this president last November’. The Hill. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  3. ↑ Poor, Jeff (October 25, 2017). Flake: ‘I Didn’t Vote for This President Last November’. Breitbart News. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  4. ↑ Giaritelli, Anna (October 25, 2017). Jeff Flake dodges when asked if he wishes Hillary Clinton were president. Washington Examiner. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  5. ↑ http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=20070
  6. ↑ https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/is-jeff-flake-arizonas-next-john-mccain/
  7. ↑ Moran, Sean (August 2, 2017). Sen. Jeff Flake Regrets Voting Against Wall Street Bank Bailouts. Breitbart News. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  8. ↑ Carney, Jordain (May 8, 2018). GOP senator: Withdrawing from Iran deal not in 'national interest'. The Hill. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  9. ↑ Nolte, John (May 9, 2018). Nolte: Never Trump Grifters John Kasich and Jeff Flake Flip-Flop on Iran Deal. Breitbart News. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  10. ↑ Manchester, Julia (June 10, 2018). GOP senator rips Navarro’s comments on Trudeau: ‘This cannot be our party’. The Hill. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  11. ↑ Samuels, Brett (July 1, 2018). Flake hits Trump over criticism of EU: 'We need our allies with us'. The Hill. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  12. ↑ Keller, Megan (October 14, 2018). Flake: Republicans should be at the forefront of combatting climate change. The Hill. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  13. ↑ Chaitin, Daniel (March 3, 2018). Jeff Flake says he and Obama keep in touch. Washington Examiner. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  14. ↑ Pollak, Joel B. (June 24, 2018). Jeff Flake Trashes Trump for Grads at Obama’s Harvard Law School. Breitbart News. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  15. ↑ Multiple references:
  16. ↑ Wilber, Del Quentin (June 24, 2018). GOP Senator Threatens to Block Trump’s Judicial Nominees Over Trade Policies. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  17. ↑ Carney, Jordain (June 30, 2018). Appeals court nominees languish in Senate as Flake demands tariff vote. The Hill. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  18. ↑ Carney, Jordain (July 11, 2018). Flake drops opposition to Trump's judges after tariff vote. The Hill. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  19. ↑ Pollak, Joel B. (August 3, 2018). Jeff Flake on Zimbabwe’s Disputed Election: ‘Democracy Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This’. Breitbart News. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  20. ↑ Multiple references:
  21. ↑ Klein, Aaron (October 1, 2018). Woman Who Confronted Jeff Flake in Elevator Leads Soros-Funded Activist Group. Breitbart News. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  22. ↑ Gearty, Robert (October 2, 2018). Anti-Kavanaugh protesters accosting senators have ties to Soros. Fox News. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  23. ↑ Byas, Steve (November 13, 2018). Cruz: Legislation to “Protect” Mueller Is Unconstitutional. The New American. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  24. ↑ Multiple references: See also:
  25. ↑ Multiple references: See also:
  26. ↑ Multiple references:
  27. ↑ Binder, John (October 24, 2017). 15 Times Jeff Flake Represented Illegal Aliens, Foreign Workers Instead of Americans. Breitbart News. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  28. ↑ Munro, Neil (August 7, 2017). Sen. Flake: ‘I’d … Divert the Border Patrol Away From our Workers’. Breitbart News. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  29. ↑ Lee, Tony (August 2, 2017). Jeff Flake Praises Jeb’s ‘Act of Love’ Remarks About Illegals. Breitbart News. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  30. ↑ Lee, Tony (August 7, 2017). Jeff Flake: GOP Should Embrace Pro-Amnesty ‘Autopsy’ Report. Breitbart News. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  31. ↑ Chaitin, Daniel (August 25, 2017). Jeff Flake not a fan of Trump's pardon of Joe Arpaio. Washington Examiner. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  32. ↑ Carney, Jordain (October 30, 2018). Flake: Trump 'can't' and 'shouldn't' nix birthright citizenship. The Hill. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  33. ↑ Zwirz, Elizabeth (November 14, 2018). Jeff Flake: Troop deployment at southern border is ‘a stunt’. Fox News. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  34. ↑ Moons, Michelle (July 17, 2017). ‘Sanctuary Senator’ Website Targets Jeff Flake’s Immigration Record. Breitbart News. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  35. ↑ Persons, Sally (August 3, 2017). Jeff Flake: Senate’s immigration proposal would be bad for the economy. The Washington Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  36. ↑ Flake Statement on RAISE Act (Aug 2, 2017). Retrieved on August 8, 2018.
  37. ↑ Shelbourne, Mallory (May 30, 2018). Flake to oppose Trump nominee for refugee bureau. The Hill. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  38. ↑ Carney, Jordain (February 21, 2018). Flake backs bill increasing age for rifle purchases. The Hill. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  39. ↑ Hawkins, Awr (March 1, 2018). Jeff Flake Partners with Dianne Feinstein for More ‘Assault Weapons’ Gun Control. Breitbart News. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  40. ↑ Multiple references:
  41. ↑ Multiple references:
  42. ↑ Multiple references:
  43. ↑ Axelrod, Tal (November 2, 2018). Flake says he's rooting for Democrat running against Steve King. The Hill. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  44. ↑ Multiple references:
  45. ↑ Bleau, Hannah (August 15, 2019). Never Trumper Jeff Flake Lists Democrat Candidates He Would Support over Trump. Breitbart News. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  46. ↑ Multiple references:
  47. ↑ https://nypost.com/2020/08/24/former-republican-senator-jeff-flake-endorses-joe-biden/
  48. ↑ Jeff Flake says 'at least 35' Republican senators would privately vote to impeach Trump
  49. ↑ Poll: Flake’s approval rating in Arizona at 18 percent

External links

  • Profile at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
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