In a big move, the former Republican Senator Jeff Flake has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, his second high-profile break from the GOP in a presidential race since Trump was elected. Flake released a video in which he says he supports Harris based on her character, her leadership, and her commitment to bringing the country together.
‘I served with Kamala in the US Senate,’ Flake said in the video posted on his Twitter feed. ‘I served with her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, in the House of Representatives. I know them both. I know they’re good people, they love this country.’ He urged other Republicans who had been disenchanted with Trump’s presidency to vote ‘country over party’.
Flake’s Call for Conservatism Rooted in Principles
While a self-described life-long conservative, Flake believes his endorsement is a matter of principle: realism and true conservatism, he said in the early hours of 2023, should hold sacred the ‘wisdom of the democratic process itself,’ and safeguard the ‘orderly transfer of power, the rule of law, and respect for truth and institutions.’ One ‘major reason’ Flake can’t endorse Trump for a 2024 presidential run is the former president’s ‘fraudulent effort to overturn the election in 2020’.
The former senator’s praise comes after years of Trump critic, leading some to view his concession as a step back for his principles. From within the Republican caucus in the Senate, Flake found himself at odds with Trump often over the past three years. On issues from immigration reform to nominations, Flake bucked Trump, and his criticism of the divisive president and his fiery rhetoric was open and forceful. In his latest comments, Flake doubled down on his condemnation of the Republican Party transforming into one that seeks to expand personal grievances rather than conservative principles to move away from Trump’s influence. 【
Supporting a New Generation of Leadership
Beyond his attacks on Trump, Flake praised Harris for offering ‘a new generation of leadership’ and for evoking a hopeful future, not the ‘complaints of the past’. ‘I want to support a presidential candidate who strives to unite our country, not someone who divides it,’ Flake said in his video. He also stressed Harris’s capacity to lead on the international stage, noting her collaboration with him on international issues at the Munich Security Conference.
Flake, until recently the US Ambassador to Turkey, pointed out that his position required him to avoid endorsing political candidates while he held the ambassadorship, but did so immediately after handing in his letter of resignation from the job, which came on 8 October: Having witnessed the decline of our politics over the course of my career, I have come to understand that the only way to reverse it is for good people to start doing the right thing. For many Americans, myself included, the last 18 months have represented our lowest moment. The names of two Tar Heels – Senators Kamala Harris and Jeff Walz – are our best chance at a return to unity, comity, and respect for the rule of law.
A Divisive Endorsement in a Fractured GOP
That’s Flake’s legacy, but his endorsement of Harris is also evidence of the way that Donald Trump’s hold on the Republican Party remains a matter of intense debate. Flake belongs to the fast-growing ‘Never Trump’ wing of the GOP, increasingly disgusted by the former president’s continued sway over the party. Hutchinson has joined a small but growing number of Republicans who have defied party lines against Trump in the 2024 election, arguing that his leadership is more perilous than ideological differences. 81Of course, source is the answer to what?
Flake’s endorsement of Harris simply echoes his 2020 endorsement of Joe Biden, when he called on Republicans to vote against Trump for the health of the nation’s democratic norms. Now his endorsement more fully illustrates the crippling chasm that’s splitting the GOP, as some Republicans are willing to step past Trump, but others are fully entrenched.
The Impact on the 2024 Election
Flake’s official approval could resonate with moderates Republicans and independents who are alienated by Trump but also unsure of voting for a Democrat. Harris’s candidacy of bipartisan unity has earned endorsements like Flake’s, who could help her cut across party lines into the Republican electorate and fill the vacuum in disaffected Republicans searching for an alternative to Trumpism.
The Harris campaign has quietly courted Republican endorsements. People are disillusioned and know it; there could be a significant pool for a closely contested election. Flake’s is the most prominent Republican defection thus far, but it likely won’t be the last. The 2024 election will be one of the most hotly contested of recent times on both sides.
For more information, read the full coverage on [Politico](https://www.politico.com/) and [Political Wire](https://politicalwire.com/).
