Former Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) voiced support for Neera Tanden, the embattled nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget who once referred to Flake as “criminally ignorant,” even after Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he would not vote to confirm her to the position due to “overly partisan statements” she has made in the past.
“Neera Tanden is smart, experienced and qualified to lead OMB. I hope she&#8217;s confirmed,” remarked Flake, who was recently censured by the Arizona state GOP. “We should always remember that there will be a Republican President in the future who will want to have his/her nominees confirmed.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Neera Tanden is smart, experienced and qualified to lead OMB. I hope she&#8217;s confirmed. We should always remember that there will be a Republican President in the future who will want to have his/her nominees confirmed.<a href="https://t.co/2P1amqcIa6">https://t.co/2P1amqcIa6</a>
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffFlake/status/1363266235958398976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2021</a></blockquote>
With the Senate split 50-50, Tanden would have needed support from every Democrat in the Senate to be confirmed, if Republicans were to vote against her unanimously. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), however, has already said in a statement that he won’t vote to confirm Taden to the position:
<blockquote>I have carefully reviewed Nerra Tanden’s public statements and tweets that were personally directed towards my colleagues on both sides of the aisle from Senator Sanders to Senator McConnell and others. I believe her overly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget. For this reason, I cannot support her nomination.
As I have said before, we must take meaningful steps to end the political division and dysfunction that pervades our politics. At a time of grave crisis, it is more important than ever that we chart a new bipartisan course that helps address the many serious challenges our nation is facing.</blockquote>
President Joe Biden said Friday evening that he’s not going to pull Tanden’s nomination, indicating that he’s looking for cross-party support. However, other Democrats and Republicans have not indicated how they would vote on Tanden.
Senator Kirsten Sinema (D-AZ), who holds the seat formerly occupied by Flake, has acted as a moderating force in her party on certain issues, such as raising the minimum wage through COVID-19 relief. She was also willing to break with her party at last year’s State of the Union, when she stood and gave applause to then-President Donald Trump.
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) has also not indicated how she plans to vote on the Tanden nomination. Like Flake, Tanden has also referred to Collins and “criminally ignorant,” and back in 2018, suggested that Collins should be haunted for “the rest of her days” for the way she treated Christine Blasey Ford during the Kavanaugh hearings.

Neera Tanden Confirmation Hearing To Be OMB Director Before Senate Homeland Committee

Jeff Flake Voices Support For Biden Nominee That Key Senate Dem Said He’d Vote Against

Jeff Flake

Joe Biden

Kyrsten Sinema

Neera Tanden

Former Republican Senator Jeff Flake (AZ), the man who nearly derailed Justice Brett Kavanaugh&#8217;s appointment to the Supreme Court, has joined Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in the call for Republicans to withhold voting on a SCOTUS nominee until after the election.
In a tweet on Saturday, the former senator from Arizona said that Republicans should hold themselves to the same standard that they set in 2016, neglecting the fact that they had no obligation to approve Obama&#8217;s appointee.
&#8220;In 2016, nine months before an election, we Republicans said that the next president should fill a Supreme Court vacancy. Today, six weeks before an election, we should hold the same position. Preserving the institution of the Senate should be paramount to any political gain,&#8221; he tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
In 2016, nine months before an election, we Republicans said that the next president should fill a Supreme Court vacancy. Today, six weeks before an election, we should hold the same position. Preserving the institution of the Senate should be paramount to any political gain.
&mdash; Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffFlake/status/1307467223905132545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has already said that the GOP stands ready to approve President Trump&#8217;s nominee before the election, arguing that the 2016 standard does not apply to 2020, given the circumstances.
“In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second term. We kept our promise. Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year,” McConnell <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mcconnell-honors-ginsburgs-life-vows-to-hold-vote-on-trump-supreme-court-nominee">said on Friday</a> shortly after honoring late-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg&#8217;s life.
“By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary. Once again, we will keep our promises,” he continued. “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
President Trump concurred that he will be selecting a SCOTUS nominee next week, and that it will be a woman.
&#8220;It will be a woman, a very talented, very brilliant woman,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-scotus-pick-will-be-a-woman-here-are-12-possibilities?%3Futm_source=twitter">the president said</a> on Sunday. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t chosen yet, but we have numerous women on the list.&#8221;
Regardless of who the president chooses, at least two Republican senators have asked that the vote be withheld until after the November election.
“For weeks, I have stated that I would not support taking up a potential Supreme Court vacancy this close to the election,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/my-position-has-not-changed-lisa-murkowski-confirms-she-opposes-replacing-ginsburg-before-election">said in a statement</a>. “Sadly, what was then a hypothetical is now our reality, but my position has not changed.”
“I did not support taking up a nomination eight months before the 2016 election to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Justice [Antonin] Scalia,” she added. “We are now even closer to the 2020 election, less than two months out, and I believe the same standard must apply.”
Likewise, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who cast the deciding vote for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, said that she would <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sen-susan-collins-calls-on-senate-to-wait-until-after-the-election-to-replace-rbg">like to see the vote delayed</a>.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sen-susan-collins-calls-on-senate-to-wait-until-after-the-election-to-replace-rbg">Sen. Susan Collins Calls On Senate To Wait Until After The Election To Replace RBG</a>

Jeff Flake Speaks At Harvard

Jeff Flake: Republicans Should Not Fill SCOTUS Seat Until Election

Supreme Court

Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona now claims Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is more conservative than President Donald Trump, a Republican, when it comes to “preserving institutions.”
Speaking with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Flake explained why he is supporting Biden over Trump in November’s general elections.
&#8220;Conservatives believe in preserving institutions, to preserve what we know works and the institutions of American democracy — our freedom of the press, for example, or separation of powers, an independent judiciary,&#8221; Flake said. &#8220;The president has shown that he little understands or little appreciates these institutions.&#8221;
Flake went on to explain that Biden is the first Democrat the former Arizona senator will be voting for in a presidential election.
&#8220;I’m not pretending Joe Biden is as conservative as I am on fiscal issues and whatnot, but on those important issues of American democracy, frankly he’s more conservative than the president is,&#8221; Flake added.
It is odd for Flake to suggest Biden would preserve America’s institutions, considering what Biden accepted during the Obama administration when he was vice president.
The Obama administration spied on journalists and tried its best to ignore Fox News. In fact, as The San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/editorials/sd-obama-trump-media-leakers-20180910-story.html">wrote</a> in September 2018, Obama’s White House communications director Anita Dunn admitted to The New York Times that the administration would “treat [Fox] the way we would treat an opponent.” In 2013, former executive editor of The Washington Post Leonard Downie Jr. <a href="https://cpj.org/reports/2013/10/obama-and-the-press-us-leaks-surveillance-post-911.php">wrote</a> that the Obama “administration’s war on leaks and other efforts to control information are the most aggressive I’ve seen since the Nixon administration.”
In 2015, James Risen, who at the time was a reporter for the Times, <a href="https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/02/risen-obama-administration-is-greatest-enemy-of-press-freedom-202707">said</a> the Obama administration was “the greatest enemy of press freedom in a generation.”
“Some specifics? Obama’s administration prosecuted three times as many cases targeting whistle-blowers and leakers than all previous administrations combined. It said there was probable cause that a Fox News reporter was a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/justice-departments-scrutiny-of-fox-news-reporter-james-rosen-in-leak-case-draws-fire/2013/05/20/c6289eba-c162-11e2-8bd8-2788030e6b44_story.html?utm_term=.b26404e13c27">‘co-conspirator’</a> in a plot against the U.S. government because of his attempts to gather information about North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. It secretly scoured the phone records of nearly 100 Associated Press reporters and editors for two months, which an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/opinion/spying-on-the-associated-press.html">editorial</a> in The New York Times characterized as ‘a fishing expedition for sources and an effort to frighten off whistle-blowers.’ And in 2014, according to AP, the Obama administration <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-administration-sets-new-record-withholding-foia-requests">broke its own record </a>for censoring government files or refusing to provide files sought under the Freedom of Information Act,” the Union-Tribune editorial board wrote.
Trump has merely criticized the press verbally, including calling them the “enemy of the people.”
Flake did not offer any examples for how Trump has undermined the separation of powers or an independent judiciary. The Obama administration stacked the courts with liberal justices, while the Trump administration is doing so with conservative justices. The Obama administration, however, undermined Americans’ core right to due process by demanding colleges and universities find more students responsible for sexual assault, leading schools to adopt policies that eviscerated due process. The Obama administration cheered these schools on and insisted anyone who disagreed was a rape apologist. Biden himself was the biggest cheerleader for these policies and stated he would overturn Trump administration requirements that schools provide basic due process.

Jeff Flake and Joe Biden

Jeff Flake Claims Biden ‘More Conservative’ Than Trump On Issues Like Freedom Of Press. Here’s What Biden Supported As VP.

2020 Election

Donald Trump

Obama Administration

On Monday, speaking of the 30 former GOP legislators who have endorsed Joe Biden, Fox News host Martha MacCallum interviewed one of them: former GOP Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, inducing him to consistently deflect as she pressed him on how a lifelong Republican could support someone sworn to a progressive agenda.
MacCallum started, “You once wrote an op-ed, by the way, that was urging lawmakers to abandon the president and ‘save your soul,’ which we all remember well, and I think we spoke to you about that back then. But my question for you tonight is that with regard to Joe Biden, he has said that ‘If I’m elected, I will be the most progressive president in history.’ How do you, as a lifetime Republican, support someone who has that goal?”
&#8220;Well, I think if you look at Joe Biden’s record, he’s not been that,&#8221; said Flake.
&#8220;But that’s what he says,&#8221; MacCallum replied.
“Right,&#8221; said Flake, smirking. &#8220;And this is a primary, too, that he’s just been through. He also said during his primary that he would work with Republicans, that he would work across the aisle; that’s not a popular thing to say in a Democratic primary, but he did. So I think if you look at his record, and what he’s been all about for so many years, he’s a creature of the Senate. He knows how to compromise. He knows how to work across the aisle, and I’m confident he’ll do that in the future.”
&#8220;Interesting,&#8221; the host responded. &#8220;The Wall Street Journal showed polls today that showed that more people want someone who was willing to buck the establishment than someone who wanted to sort of make peace and find common ground. Does that surprise you and do you think that someone who is more willing to be a bull in a China shop, as the president has been, is what’s resonating with Americans ultimately, or do you think they want someone who is more copasetic and calming like a Joe Biden?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, I think in the primary season it’s easy to say that you want somebody who’s gonna buck the establishment, but as you get closer to the election and realize that if you want policy, legislation, laws that actually endure, they need to be bipartisan,&#8221; Flake replied. &#8220;There needs to be some buy-in from both parties, so I think you’ll see both parties tacking a bit to the center, and then, like I said, Joe Biden has been through this for a long time.&#8221;
MacCallum pressed: &#8220;I’m just trying to figure out in terms of actual policy what it is that you really like in Joe Biden as a lifelong Republican. You pushed for the First Step Act; we’re gonna hear from Alice Johnson; President Trump actually was able to sign that into law. We had eight years of the Obama-Biden administration and they did not take action on that act. So why support Joe Biden over President Trump when that was clearly very important to you?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, if that were the only thing — certainly President Trump pushed that; I applaud him for it; I voted for that when I was in the Senate,&#8221; said the former senator. &#8220;I’m glad to support the First Step Act. Joe Biden has been supportive of criminal justice reform for as long or longer than President Trump.&#8221;
&#8220;But he was in for eight years with President Obama and it never happened is my point,&#8221; MacCallum emphasized.
Flake, stammering: “You bet— but things happened during that time, also, that haven’t happened during the Trump administration. We passed a bipartisan immigration bill that appropriated forty billion dollars for border security; that was when President Obama and Joe Biden were in the White House. We did that in the Senate. So there are different policies, and I’ve been supportive of many of the things that the president has pushed, tax reform, regulatory reform —&#8221;
&#8220;But you just don’t like his character,&#8221; MacCallum retorted.
&#8220;It is not just that; the Republicans have traditionally been for free trade; the president is very much a protectionist,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Republicans have stood for strong American leadership across the globe—&#8221;
MacCallum interjected: &#8220;Well, he pushed for a better trade deal with China which I think got a lot of broad appeal in terms of finally pushing back which has really never happened over all of the decades—&#8221;
&#8220;But before doing that, he canceled the Trans Pacific Partnership,&#8221; Flake answered. &#8220;The Trans Pacific Partnership, if anything, would have helped keep China in check by allowing countries, particularly in Southeast Asia to go somewhere else for their trade.&#8221;
MacCallum closed by asking Flake if he&#8217;s &#8220;in favor of school choice,&#8221; to which he replied, &#8220;You bet.&#8221;
&#8220;Joe Biden’s not in favor of that,&#8221; MacCallum noted. &#8220;He would not want any—&#8221;
&#8220;There’ll be a lot of things, no doubt that I will disagree with President Biden on,&#8221; Flake interjected.
&#8220;So I’m just trying to figure out why you are—&#8221; MacCallum said, but Flake continued by insisting that Biden &#8220;will stand up and have reverence for our institutions of government&#8221; and will &#8220;preserve the public space where we Republicans and Democrats can go back to disagreeing about policy and not just this rank tribalism that we see today.&#8221;
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&nbsp;

WATCH: Former GOP Senator Flake Endorses Biden. MacCallum Grills Him.

Martha MacCallum

&#8220;Who will save your souls, if you won&#8217;t save your own?&#8221; singer Jewel famously asked in her hit song. Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) has now publicly directed that question toward his former colleagues in the GOP as President Trump faces an impeachment inquiry by House Democrats.
In an op-ed for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jeff-flake-fellow-republicans-theres-still-time-to-save-your-souls/2019/09/30/ade876f6-e2d3-11e9-b403-f738899982d2_story.html">The Washington Post</a>, Jeff Flake — the man who nearly derailed the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation in the 11th hour — says that the Republican Party has changed for the worse under President Trump and it&#8217;s a party he can no longer identify. But alas, there is still hope, according to Flake, so long as the Republicans are willing to find their souls again and either impeach Trump or abandon him in the 2020 election.
&#8220;Traveling overseas I witnessed the damage being done to our standing in the world as a result of President Trump’s fondness for authoritarians and his scorn for allies,&#8221; Flake writes of Trump&#8217;s influence. &#8220;His hostility toward security alliances and trade agreements had placed our long-term security and our economy at risk. His adoption of the tyrant’s phrase &#8216;enemy of the people&#8217; put journalists in even greater peril, all over the world. His resentment toward refugees and profane description of certain countries were destroying generations of goodwill.&#8221;
&#8220;At home, I was convinced that his repeated disparagement of the judiciary, antagonism toward Congress and casual disregard for the truth were damaging our democratic institutions, and his persistent crudeness to his political opponents and cruelty toward vanquished foes were degrading our political culture,&#8221; he continues.
Knowing that oblivion is at hand, Flake proposes a decision to his former Senate colleagues, urging them to take the testimony of the Ukrainian deal &#8220;whistleblower&#8221; seriously and either impeach President Trump or lend him no support come 2020. The former option, Flake admits, could prove beneficial to President Trump, so he urges the GOP take the latter option.
<blockquote>
We have learned from a <a title="www.washingtonpost.com" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-the-whistleblower-complaint-regarding-president-trump-s-communications-with-ukrainian-president-volodymyr-zelensky/4b9e0ca5-3824-467f-b1a3-77f2d4ee16aa/">whistleblower</a> that the president has abused the power of his office to pressure a foreign government to go after a political opponent. A <a title="www.washingtonpost.com" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/25/rough-transcript-trumps-call-with-ukraines-president-annotated/">rough transcript</a> of the telephone call has removed all ambiguity about the president’s intent. In light of these revelations, the House of Representatives has launched an <a title="www.washingtonpost.com" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pelosi-turns-to-schiff-to-lead-house-democrats-impeachment-inquiry-of-trump/2019/09/28/ed6c4608-e149-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html">impeachment inquiry</a> and will likely be forwarding to the Senate at least one article of impeachment.
Compelling arguments will be made on both sides of the impeachment question. With what we now know, the president’s actions warrant impeachment. The Constitution of course does not require it, and although <a title="www.law.cornell.edu" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii">Article II, Section 4</a> is clear about remedies for abuse of office, I have grave reservations about impeachment. I fear that, given the profound division in the country, an impeachment proceeding at such a toxic moment might actually benefit a president who thrives on chaos. Disunion is the oxygen of this presidency. He is the maestro of a brand of discord that benefits only him and ravages everything else. So although impeachment now seems inevitable, I fear it all the same. I understand others who might have similar reservations. The decision to impeach or not is a difficult one indeed.
</blockquote>
Since impeachment would be so catastrophic, Flake says that the &#8220;easier decision&#8221; for the GOP would be simply to not support Trump&#8217;s bid for reelection. While Flake understands the consequences could mean being voted out of office, the former senator believes that the sacrifice is worth it.
&#8220;I am not oblivious to the consequences that might accompany that decision,&#8221; writes Flake. &#8220;In fact, I am living those consequences. I would have preferred to represent the citizens of Arizona for another term in the Senate. But not at the cost of supporting this man. A man who has, now more than ever, proved to be so manifestly undeserving of the highest office that we have.&#8221;
&#8220;At this point, the president’s conduct in office should not surprise us,&#8221; continues Flake. &#8220;But truly devastating has been our tolerance of that conduct. Our embrace of it. From the ordeal of this presidency, perhaps the most horrible — and lasting — effect on our democracy will be that at some point we simply stopped being shocked.&#8221;
Flake finishes op-ed by appealing to Republicans to risk their careers in favor of &#8220;muh principles,&#8221; arguing that presidents will come and go while principles will die if they don&#8217;t &#8220;put America first.&#8221;
&#8220;Trust me when I say that you can go elsewhere for a job. But you cannot go elsewhere for a soul,&#8221; Flake concludes.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford And Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Testify To Senate Judiciary Committee

Jeff Flake’s Message To Republicans: ‘There’s Still Time To Save Your Souls’

Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), the man who nearly derailed Brett Kavanaugh&#8217;s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, now openly hopes that a Democrat beats President Trump in 2020.
According to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/436473-flake-says-hed-rather-see-a-democrat-win-if-trump-is-gops-2020-nominee">The Hill</a>, Flake expressed his 2020 hopes while speaking at a debate hosted by Intelligence Squared in New York over the weekend. The debate circled around whether the GOP should renominate President Trump; joining him to argue against the nomination was New York Times columnist Bret Stephens.
&#8220;Are you willing to lose a cycle for the Republican Party because of the principles that you&#8217;re arguing?&#8221; moderator John Donvan asked Flake.
&#8220;Oh yes, yes,&#8221; Flake replied.
Flake reasoned that Trump&#8217;s policies on immigration will hurt the Republican Party over time despite it playing well with his base.
&#8220;It can galvanize people for a while, maybe for a cycle or two. But in the end, it turns people off. It turns off minorities. It turns off women,&#8221; said Flake.
Flake hoped that the GOP would stop sacrificing future generations and think more about long-term considerations.
&#8220;You sacrifice a generation, and you think, &#8216;Man, we might get some policy goals in the next year or two,'&#8221; Flake said. &#8220;Look at the long term. Look at the long term, at what you&#8217;re doing for the party, because people don&#8217;t want to be associated with it.&#8221;
Flake also blasted the argument that Trump is the only electable 2020 candidate. &#8220;We would certainly like it to be a Republican. And this notion &#8212; this narrative that&#8217;s been built up that Donald Trump is the only one that can cobble together the Electoral College and win is just a fallacy,&#8221; Flake said.
As <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/01/mitt-romneys-donald-trump-attack-op-ed-counterproductive/">noted </a>by Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro when failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney was floated as a potential 2020 challenger to Trump, a primary challenge would not only be disastrous, but also nonsensical:
<blockquote>
Here&#8217;s how an actual primary campaign against Trump from Romney or anyone else would play out. The primarying candidate would declare him- or herself superior in character to Trump (which would probably be true), a better representative of conservatism than Trump (which could be true in theory but probably wouldn&#8217;t be true in policy terms), and a more likely 2020 victor (which would likely be false). On the first count, Republican voters would look the other way just as they did in 2016, having learned the lesson that character doesn&#8217;t matter &#8212; ironically enough, from 2012 Mitt Romney, whose sterling character plus five bucks bought him a cup of coffee in that election cycle.
On the second count, Republican voters would have to decide whether to throw out a sitting president responsible for, among other things, the seating of two Supreme Court justices and another 83 Article III judges; a massive tax cut; a systematic dismantlement of regulations, including the repeal of the individual mandate under Obamacare and the destruction of the Obama administration&#8217;s absurd Title IX standards; the formation of an anti-Iranian alliance among Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia; the movement of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem; the rebuilding of the American military; criminal-justice reform (a policy libertarians certainly favor); and a booming economy (thus far). Trump has governed far more conservatively than expected.
</blockquote>
None of Flake&#8217;s comments, however, should come as a surprise to anyone. For awhile now, he has signaled his support for a Democratic victory in 2020 &#8212; especially from former Vice President Joe Biden, who Flake says &#8220;strikes fear&#8221; in the hearts of many Republicans.
&#8220;He can speak to those states that President Trump won, the Rust Belt in particular, and he&#8217;s seen as more of a centrist. He was a senator for 30 some years. He knows how to work with the Senate, with the Congress, and I think that&#8217;s certainly one that worries Republicans,&#8221; Flake <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44561/jeff-flake-joe-biden-strikes-fear-lot-republicans-paul-bois">said on MSNBC&#8217;s &#8220;Morning Joe&#8221;</a> last month.

Jeff Flake: I Want A Democrat To Defeat Trump In 2020

President Trump is great at giving nicknames &#8212; maybe even better than George W. Bush (although the 43rd president nicknaming senior adviser Karl Rove &#8220;Turd Blossom&#8221; was pretty inspired).
Trump calls Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) &#8220;Pocahontas&#8221; for her false claims that&#8217;s she&#8217;s Native American. He calls Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who falsely claimed to have fought in the Vietnam War, &#8220;Da Nang Dick.&#8221; Jeb Bush was, of course, &#8220;Low Energy Jeb.&#8221; Then there&#8217;s &#8220;Crooked Hillary,&#8221; &#8220;Lyin&#8217; Leakin&#8217; James Comey,&#8221; &#8220;Jeff Flakey,&#8221; &#8220;Head Clown Chuck Schumer,&#8221; and &#8220;Mad Maxine Waters.&#8221;
On Monday, Trump added a new one to the list. On Twitter, he called Biden &#8220;another low I.Q. individual&#8221; as he mocked the former vice president for being &#8220;tongue tied&#8221; on whether he&#8217;s running in 2020.
&#8220;Joe Biden got tongue tied over the weekend when he was unable to properly deliver a very simple line about his decision to run for President. Get used to it, another low I.Q. individual!&#8221; Trump tweeted.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Joe Biden got tongue tied over the weekend when he was unable to properly deliver a very simple line about his decision to run for President. Get used to it, another low I.Q. individual!
&#8212; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1107631297076305920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Low I.Q. Joe. It&#8217;s got a nice ring to it.
Trump was referring to a speech by Biden on Saturday, in which he made an error that made it sound like he was already running for president.
&#8220;I know I get criticized,&#8221; Biden said in Delaware. &#8220;I have the most progressive record of anybody running for the &#8212;anybody who would run.&#8221; He took a pause &#8212; at one point making the sign of the cross &#8212; after making the error as people in the crowd applauded. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t mean &#8230;&#8221; Biden said. &#8220;Of anybody who would run.&#8221;
But Biden is already testing the waters, and reportedly has hired some campaign strategists in New Hampshire, the first state in the country to hold a presidential primary every four years. And the D.C. website <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/16/biden-2020-announcement-1224007">Politico</a> reported Sunday that Biden is telling close friends he&#8217;s all but in.
<blockquote>
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said to reporters earlier in the evening that Biden has told him that &#8220;he is all but certain he is going to run.&#8221; And addressing the dinner ahead of Biden&#8217;s remarks, Coons said he is &#8220;confident that 598 days from now, we will together be celebrating&#8221; a new commander in chief.
&#8220;Folks, I am praying for that man. And I am excited to hear from him just a few minutes from now,&#8221; Coons said. &#8220;And I am confident that&#8217;s our vice president, Joe Biden.&#8221;
</blockquote>
Trump has already got a few other nicknames for Biden. Among them:
<ul>
<li>Crazy Joe</li>
<li>1 Percent Biden</li>
<li>Sleepy Joe</li>
</ul>
Look for more nicknames to come once Uncle Joe jumps in the race. Trump still hasn&#8217;t mined the whole train thing, which seems fertile ground for a moniker.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44594/curl-biden-will-run-and-biden-will-win-joseph-curl">CURL: Biden Will Run, And Biden Will Win</a>

Trump Unveils New Nickname For Joe Biden — And It’s A Doozy

Charles Schumer

Elizabeth Warren

Hillary Clinton

James Comey

Jeb Bush

Maxine Waters

Richard Blumenthal

Be afraid, Republicans. Uncle Joe Biden is coming, according to former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona.
Speaking to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeff-flake-on-possible-2020-bid-joe-biden-strikes-fear-in-a-lot-of-republicans/">CBS News</a> (where he now serves as a contributor), the notoriously moderate Republican said that the thought of former Vice President Joe Biden seeking the presidency in 2020 &#8220;strikes fear in a lot of Republicans.&#8221;
Joe Biden has not definitively said whether he will be running for president in 2020, but <a data-invalid-url-rewritten-http href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sen-chris-coons-says-hes-confident-joe-biden-will-run-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">many expect him to make an announcement</a> soon.
&#8220;He can speak to those states that President Trump won, the Rust Belt in particular, and he&#8217;s seen as more of a centrist. He was a Senator for 30 some years. He knows how to work with the Senate, with the Congress, and I think that&#8217;s certainly one that worries Republicans,&#8221; Flake said.
Flake added that he hopes someone in the Republican Party challenges President Trump for the 2020 nomination &#8212; perhaps former Ohio Governor John Kasich. Flake believes that it would remind conservatives &#8220;what it means to be decent.&#8221;
&#8220;I really don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s going to be a serious challenge,&#8221; said Flake. &#8220;John Kasich has talked about it and he would be a strong candidate, I believe. He has a strong record as governor, back in Congress, as well. But he&#8217;s not decided to do so. [Maryland Governor] Larry Hogan has been talked about. He has a strong record,&#8221; Flake said. &#8220;I hope that somebody does, if only to remind to Republicans what it means to be conservative and what it means to be decent. I do hope somebody runs.&#8221;
Flake also said that House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made a wise move on Monday by <a data-invalid-url-rewritten-http href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pelosi-comes-out-against-impeaching-trump-saying-hes-just-not-worth-it-today-2019-03-11/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">opposing the impeachment of President Trump</a>. Flake said she made the decision to cover Democrats in pro-Trump districts. &#8220;I think that was the purpose,&#8221; he said. &#8220;She&#8217;s been pretty consistent in saying that she doesn&#8217;t want it. I think that was a wise move on her part. She made it very clear that this isn&#8217;t where we ought to go unless the evidence certainly takes us there.&#8221;
While Flake may believe that Biden strikes fear in the heart of Republicans, he forgets that the former Vice President needs to win a competitive primary in order to get the nomination &#8212; and that will require wooing the increasingly radical progressive base. Just last week, HuffPost ran with multiple scathing hit pieces trashing Biden for allegedly lacking progressive principles, especially on abortion.
&#8220;In more than four decades of public service, Biden has enthusiastically championed policies favored by financial elites, forging alliances with Wall Street and the political right to notch legislative victories that ran counter to the populist ideas that now animate his party,&#8221; one HuffPost <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-2020_n_5c796502e4b087c2f295ba31">article</a> said of Biden. &#8220;If he declares for the presidency, Biden will face a Democratic electorate that has moved on from his brand of politics.&#8221;
Another <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/biden-in-74-women-dont-have-sole-right-to-say-what-should-happen-to-their-bodies_n_5c78409ae4b0de0c3fbf2b70">article</a> blasted Biden for not supporting third-trimester abortions. &#8220;When former Vice President Joe Biden was a freshman Senator, he <a data-rapid-parsed="slk" data-rapid_p="2" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="subsec:paragraph;cpos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0" href="https://www.washingtonian.com/1974/06/01/joe-biden-kitty-kelley-1974-profile-death-and-the-all-american-boy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> in a 1974 interview with Washingtonian that he believed the Supreme Court&#8217;s Roe v. Wade ruling clearing the way for legal first-trimester abortions &#8216;went too far,&#8217; and that he didn&#8217;t &#8216;think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body,'&#8221; the article said.
The fear of Biden to which Flake alluded seems to be equally strong among progressives.

Jeff Flake: Joe Biden Strikes Fear In A Lot Of Republicans

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez&#8217;s (D-NY) guest for the State of the Union Address on Tuesday will be the protestor who cornered former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) in an elevator in an effort to dissuade him from voting for the confirmation of then-U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Ana Maria Archila, an activist and co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy Action, confirmed to the Intercept that she was invited, reports <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-invites-woman-who-confronted-flake-in-kavanaugh-fight-to-sotu/">National Review</a>.
During the encounter with Flake in September, Archila and another woman held an elevator open that Flake was attempting to use and confronted him over his support for Kavanaugh, as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/36785/nyt-reporter-accuses-chuck-grassley-anti-semitism-paul-bois">The Daily Wire</a> reported at the time.
&#8220;Look at me and tell me that it doesn&#8217;t matter what happened to me,&#8221; said the other protesting woman, 23-year-old Maria Gallagher.
&#8220;On Monday, I stood in front of your office,&#8221; Archila said. &#8220;I told the story of my sexual assault. I told it because I recognized in Dr. Ford&#8217;s story that she is telling the truth. What you are doing is allowing someone who actually violated a woman to sit on the Supreme Court.&#8221;
&#8220;You have children in your family &#8212; think about them,&#8221; Archila went on shouting. &#8220;I have two children. I cannot imagine that for the next 50 years they will have to have someone in the Supreme Court who has been accused of violating a young girl. What are you doing, sir?&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
WOW &#8212; CNN shows a sexual assault victim absolutely shredding <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffFlake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JeffFlake</a> for announcing he&#8217;ll vote for Kavanaugh.
&#8220;You&#8217;re telling all women that they don&#8217;t matter, that they should just stay quiet because if they tell you what happened to them you are going to ignore them.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/lgLeECzpWC">pic.twitter.com/lgLeECzpWC</a>
&#8212; Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1045669607124676609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
Following the confrontation, Flake called on Republicans to delay the vote and allow the FBI to investigate the allegations for one week. After the investigation, Flake ultimately voted for Kavanaugh&#8217;s confirmation.
In October, Flake said that the confrontation had an impact on his call for an investigation.
&#8220;I felt for them,&#8221; Flake said on The View. &#8220;You could tell that it was genuine, and I just want them to know we hear them.&#8221;
&#8220;I just feel particularly moved that in her first participation in the State of the Union, she is inviting me to join and inviting that moment of the elevator, my confrontation with the men who do not understand the life of women and lives of people who are not in power, that&#8217;s she inviting me into that imagination of people again,&#8221; Archila said to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/04/ana-maria-archila-queens-woman-who-confronted-jeff-flake-will-be-ocasio-cortezs-sotu-guest/">the Intercept</a>.
Archila added that she is a sexual assault survivor and was influenced to confront Flake and tell her story because of &#8220;the courage&#8221; she saw by &#8220;people that had been protesting for weeks&#8221; and &#8220;the courage of women who were telling their stories.&#8221;
&#8220;I would not have ever told my story otherwise &#8212; I hadn&#8217;t in 30 years,&#8221; she said.
Ocasio-Cortez hinted about inviting Archila &#8212; who is a longtime activist and Queens native &#8212; last week in a tweet. &#8220;Y&#8217;all aren&#8217;t ready for NY-14&#8217;s #StateOfTheUnion guest!&#8221; she tweeted with a photo of an enamel pin, saying &#8220;well behaved women rarely make history.&#8221; Her tweet continued, &#8220;Here&#8217;s a hint: I just picked up this gift for them at our very own Lockwood Shop in Jackson Heights.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Y&#8217;all aren&#8217;t ready for NY-14&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StateOfTheUnion?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StateOfTheUnion</a> guest!
Here&#8217;s a hint: I just picked up this gift for them at our very own Lockwood Shop in Jackson Heights <a href="https://t.co/wSv23WmJ9k">pic.twitter.com/wSv23WmJ9k</a>
&#8212; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1091781602169028609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Archila also said that she has &#8220;never felt so proud of voting for someone as when I voted for Alexandria.&#8221;
&#8220;It was really a powerful experience to feel like I was voting for someone I 100 percent believes in,&#8221; Archila said. &#8220;And this was, you know, in June of last year when we were fighting Trump&#8217;s separation of children at the border. So I voted for Alexandria in the morning and then took a train to D.C. and the next day organized the largest demonstration, the largest civil disobedience that has been done inside the halls of Congress, when 700 women got arrested in the Hart Senate building.&#8221;

Ocasio-Cortez Invites Activist Who Cornered Flake About Kavanaugh To State Of The Union

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Brett Kavanaugh

State of the Union

President Donald Trump can breathe a sigh of relief! Ardent anti-Trump former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) has ruled out a 2020 primary challenge against the sitting president, opting for a contributor position with CBS News instead.
The former senator announced the move on CBS &#8220;This Morning.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ve always said that I do hope there is a Republican who challenges President Trump,&#8221; said Flake. &#8220;That will not be me.&#8221;
Flake admitted that &#8220;there really isn&#8217;t a path&#8221; for a Trump challenger on the Republican side, but added that he&#8217;s still hopeful for one.
&#8220;The RNC (Republican National Committee) and the president&#8217;s campaign are now melded. They&#8217;re trying to do anything they can to squelch any opposition. I still hope that some, and some are still talking about, do run. I think that&#8217;s healthy, and I&#8217;m not a fan of this president. But that won&#8217;t be me.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
NEW &#8212; &#8220;That won&#8217;t be me.&#8221; &#8212; Jeff Flake closes the door on a 2020 primary challenge to President Trump: <a href="https://t.co/LCjsYiaaeB">pic.twitter.com/LCjsYiaaeB</a>
&#8212; J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) <a href="https://twitter.com/jiveDurkey/status/1090249176628248581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Flake will be working on a new series for the network called &#8220;Common Ground.&#8221;
&#8220;Common ground may be hard to find in Washington, but it is found everywhere else in the country. I look forward to working with CBS on this new series,&#8221; wrote Flake in a Tuesday morning tweet.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Common ground may be hard to find in Washington, but it is found everywhere else in the country. I look forward to working with CBS on this new series <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CommonGround?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CommonGround</a> <a href="https://t.co/SmUnfGl2bL">https://t.co/SmUnfGl2bL</a>
&#8212; Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffFlake/status/1090270152648736768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Donald Trump Jr. was quick to react to the news, taking a jab at Flake on Twitter. &#8220;Shocked that Jeff flake who wouldn&#8217;t have come close to winning his home district isn&#8217;t going to run for president,&#8221; wrote the eldest Trump son. &#8220;I thought he was a real contender. Maybe try for dog catcher!&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Shocked that Jeff flake who wouldn&#8217;t have come close to winning his home district isn&#8217;t going to run for president.
I thought he was a real contender
Maybe try for dog catcher!
&#8212; Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1090242453834211329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Flake was <a href="https://www.countable.us/articles/1310-jeff-flake-announces-retirement-excoriates-trump">praised by the Left</a> when he announced his retirement on the Senate floor in 2017 and ripped the president and the Republican Party.
&#8220;It is often said that children are watching. Well, they are. And what are we going to do about that? When the next generation asks us, Why didn&#8217;t you do something? Why didn&#8217;t you speak up? &#8212; what are we going to say?&#8221; he <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/24/politics/jeff-flake-retirement-speech-full-text/index.html">said</a>.
&#8220;Mr. President, I rise today to say: Enough,&#8221; Flake continued. &#8220;We must dedicate ourselves to making sure that the anomalous never becomes normal. With respect and humility, I must say that we have fooled ourselves for long enough that a pivot to governing is right around the corner, a return to civility and stability right behind it. We know better than that. By now, we all know better than that.&#8221;
Flake&#8217;s apparently standing up to mean ol&#8217; Trump with his new CBS position, a move which no one saw coming &#8230;

Jeff Flake Rules Out Primary Challenge To Trump, Signs With CBS News. Don Jr. Roasts Him.

Arizona

Guess which former senator is speaking with CBS News about a job at the network?
It&#8217;s Jeff Flake, former senator from Arizona, according to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cbs-news-talks-hire-sen-jeff-flake-1173335">The Hollywood Reporter</a> (THR). THR reports that Flake visited CBS&#8217; Manhattan office, adding, &#8220;Flake could serve in the standard role for ex-politicians as an on-air contributor &#8212; or as something more, according to knowledgeable sources.&#8221;
Interestingly, earlier in the week President Trump speculated that Flake might now seek a television job, saying he would &#8220;probably go to work for CNN. That&#8217;s my prediction.&#8221;
In June, The Daily Beast <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeff-flake-shopping-around-for-a-possible-post-senate-cable-news-gig">reported</a>, &#8220;Over the past several days, the Arizona Republican&#8212;who is not seeking re-election amid his public fights with President Donald Trump&#8212;has met with the heads of at least two major cable-news networks. On Monday, he met with MSNBC president Phil Griffin; and on Tuesday, he met with rival network CNN&#8217;s chief Jeff Zucker.&#8221;
When The Daily Beast queried as to whether he was seeking a job in cable news, Flake laughed, &#8220;That&#8217;s down the road&#8212;that&#8217;s six months.&#8221;
In October 2017, <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2017/10/24/sen-jeff-flake-senate-speech-full-text/794958001/">announcing his impending retirement</a> from the Senate, Flake gave a speech in which he took a veiled shot at President Trump, saying:
<blockquote>
Reckless, outrageous, and undignified behavior has become excused and countenanced as &#8220;telling it like it is,&#8221; when it is actually just reckless, outrageous, and undignified. And when such behavior emanates from the top of our government, it is something else: It is dangerous to a democracy. Such behavior does not project strength &#8212; because our strength comes from our values. It instead projects a corruption of the spirit, and weakness.
</blockquote>
In January 2018, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/25886/flake-wont-rule-out-challenging-trump-2020-hank-berrien">appearing on MSNBC&#8217;s &#8220;KasieDC</a>,&#8221; Flake would not rule out challenging President Trump in 2020. Kasie Hunt asked Flake, &#8220;You say you should oppose him when you think he&#8217;s wrong. Do you think there&#8217;s a moral obligation or duty for someone else in your party to challenge him for the nomination in 2020?&#8221; Flake responded, &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to put it that way, but I think he will have a challenge.&#8221;
Hunt interrupted, &#8220;Is it going to come from you?&#8221;
Flake answered, &#8220;He&#8217;ll certainly have a challenge from somebody as an independent. But I think he&#8217;ll likely have a challenge in the Republican Party as well. &#8230; I am not the only one &#8212; the only Republican who is saying, &#8216;You know, I&#8217;m not sure this is my party. We used to stand for limited government and free trade, free enterprise and not this kind of nationalist, protectionist kind of party.&#8217;&#8221;
Later in the interview, Hunt persisted, &#8220;Would you completely rule out challenging the president for the nomination in 2020?&#8221;
Flake, pinned down, responded, &#8220;No, I won&#8217;t rule it out. It&#8217;s not in my plans. But I&#8217;m not ruling it out. I don&#8217;t think anybody should.&#8221;
Two months later, Flake <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/28370/watch-sen-jeff-flake-says-he-has-not-ruled-out-frank-camp">reiterated that view</a> more strongly, telling a &#8220;Politics and Eggs&#8221; group:
<blockquote>
I, as you know, am retiring from the Senate at the end of this year. It has not been my plan to run for president, but I have not ruled it out. I hope that someone does run in the Republican primary &#8211; somebody to challenge the president. I think that the Republicans want to be reminded what it means to be a traditional, decent Republican, and what the Party stands for &#8211; limited government, economic freedom, free trade, embracing immigration. These are things that have made the Party what it is over the years, and I think that people are wanting to hear that reminder. So I don&#8217;t know who it will be &#8211; I think the odds that I will are long, but I&#8217;ve not ruled it out.
</blockquote>

Guess Which Former Senator That Trump Disliked Is Reportedly Seeking A TV Job?

The Senate Judiciary Committee has canceled hearings on a list of President Donald Trump&#8217;s judicial nominees after outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) pledged to vote against any Republican judicial nominee so long as the GOP refuses to pass a bill protecting Special Counsel Robert Mueller from any detrimental White House actions.
&#8220;The panel was scheduled to advance six Circuit Court nominees, 15 District Court nominees and several bipartisan bills on Thursday to prepare them for possible floor action over the next month,&#8221; <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/28/senate-judiciary-nominee-flake-mueller-1025918">Politico reported</a>, noting that the nominees are all to key seats, and all could be easily pushed through both committee and the full Senate with full Republican support.
But Flake says he will not vote &#8220;yes&#8221; on a single nominee unless a &#8220;bipartisan&#8221; bill, which requires Mueller be fired by a senior administration official rather than by presidential tweet and would give Mueller an &#8220;expedited review&#8221; of his filing if he requested it, is brought to the floor.
On Wednesday, Flake and a Democratic colleague, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), tried to convince Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to bring the matter to the floor. When McConnell refused, Flake voted &#8220;no&#8221; on judge Thomas Farr&#8217;s nomination to the Federal district court.
Now the GOP has been forced to cancel a vote on at least 21 lifetime appointments, even though they control the Senate. Flake is currently the 51st vote of a 51-49 majority, which gives him the power to stall any close contests. In the case of Farr, Republicans had to call in Vice President Mike Pence to break a 50-50 tie.
The Republican Senate leadership says they aren&#8217;t giving up on getting the nominees through before Congress takes up a budget fight next week, and then recesses for the holidays. <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/418810-trumps-court-picks-held-hostage-by-mueller-bill">According to The Hill</a>, McConnell and others are &#8220;sounding out&#8221; members of the GOP in the Senate to see if they would even be able to bring Flake&#8217;s bill to a vote, just to keep him happy and get him out of the way.
&#8220;Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, said Wednesday evening that GOP leaders have whipped the bill, after telling reporters earlier this week that leadership is trying to figure out what sort of support the bill has and what thee &#8216;outcome&#8217; of a vote on the legislation might be,&#8221; The Hill reported Thursday morning.
The GOP seems to fear that bringing the bill to the floor will upend an already packed legislative calendar, and draw some senators into President Donald Trump&#8217;s cross-hairs, prolonging an argument about &#8220;saving&#8221; Mueller, even as the Special Counsel is reportedly in the final days of his investigation.
Flake feels the bill is imminently necessary, particularly in light of how Trump&#8217;s attacks on Mueller have ramped up in recent days. On Thursday, news that Trump&#8217;s former top adviser and personal attorney Michael Cohen had struck a deal with Mueller on charges that he lied under oath to Congress seemed only to substantiate Flake&#8217;s fears.
Flake will be leaving the Senate in January, freeing the GOP there from his antics &#8212; at least temporarily. He&#8217;s expected to challenge President Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2020 (though he&#8217;s winning few fans on his way out).

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