Former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican, was an early critic of President Donald Trump and came out publicly in support of President Joe Biden in last year’s election. Biden this week nominated Flake, who left the Senate in 2018, as the next ambassador to Turkey. /File photo by Ben Moffat/Cronkite News
By Alyssa Marksz | Cronkite News
Flake, a Republican never-Trumper with no formal diplomatic experience, is likely to face some tough questioning from both sides in the Senate for the job in Turkey, a key ally in the Middle East.
But experts say he also still has a lot of goodwill from former Senate colleagues who can be expected to support his nomination.
“He has a lot of friends in the Senate. A lot of these people who will be voting for his confirmation are his former colleagues,” said Will Todman, a fellow in the Middle East program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I think, in particular, centrists from both parties are likely to support him.”
Flake is the second Arizona Republican nominated to an ambassadorship in less than a month by Biden. In June, he tapped Cindy McCain – also a sharp critic of former President Donald Trump – to be the U.S. representative to the United Nations’ Agencies on Food and Agriculture.
Todman said Biden’s choices of Flake and McCain serves as “important signaling that he does have this commitment to bipartisanship.”
Both Flake and McCain, the widow of former Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, have sparred with Trump since before he was elected president in 2016.
