Flake says he didn’t coordinate with Corker

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday that he did not coordinate his retirement announcement with Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who slammed President Trump in interviews just hours before Flake stunned the Senate with his announcement.

“No, I sit with Bob on the Foreign Relations Committee. I’ve been aware of his concerns, particularly about our foreign policy and I share those concerns,” Flake told CNN’s “New Day.” 

{mosads}“We’ve had those discussions. But he had no idea I was going to do what I did yesterday.”

The Arizona senator on Tuesday announced he would not run for reelection in 2018 and delivered a speech on the Senate floor where he blasted Trump. Flake and Corker are among the GOP’s most outspoken critics of the president.

“The notion that one should stay silent as the norms and values that keep America strong are undermined and as the alliances and agreements that ensure the stability of the entire world are routinely threatened by the level of thought that goes into 140 characters — the notion that one should say and do nothing in the face of such mercurial behavior is ahistoric and, I believe, profoundly misguided,” Flake said.

Flake’s announcement and subsequent speech came hours after Corker and Trump engaged in a public feud over Twitter and cable interviews, with the Tennessee senator saying the president is “debasing” the United States.