Former GOP Sen. Jeff Flake endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president on Sunday. writes in the statement he said he wants to support a presidential candidate who represents “a new generation of leadership based on hopes for the future, not grievances of the past.”
“I served in the US Senate with Kamala. I have also served [Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz] In the House of Representatives. I know them. I know firsthand their good character and love of country,” the former Arizona senator added in a statement published on X.
Previously flake confirmed Joe Biden was a candidate for the presidency in 2020 and was previously the ambassador to Turkey during the Biden era fall down earlier this month.
The Republican recalled this experience in his endorsement and wrote that “having spent the last three years as the US ambassador abroad, I have seen firsthand that we have very real enemies abroad. We also have vital and indispensable allies. I want to support a president who understands and appreciates the difference.”
Even before the 2020 presidential election, Flake had a long dispute with Donald Trump.
It was in 2016 vocal critic said he was and would be a then-Republican presidential candidate type the former secretary of state is running rather than voting for Hillary Clinton or Trump.
Flake after he announced in 2017 that he would not seek re-election to the Senate the following year he continued to speak openly In opposition to Trump, he said at the time that “there may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or in the current Republican Party.”
His endorsement of Harris comes as his campaign has been reaching out to prominent anti-Trump Republicans for months for support.
The campaign was announced in August the endorsement of more than two dozen Republicans for vice president. And in September, another high-profile anti-Trump Republican, former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, Harris confirmed. Days later, so did his father, former Vice President Dick Cheney He would vote for Harris.
A spokesman for the Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
Later Sunday, Flake told ABC News’ “This Week” that many conservative Republicans felt the same way about the former president.
“I think Republicans especially believe in the rule of law. “It’s hard to support a candidate who loses an election and uses the power of the presidency to try to overturn that election. That’s nothing but respect for the rule of law. So I know a lot of conservative Republicans feel that way. I know you’re just such a you cannot support the candidate”.
Summer concept contributed.