Former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona among Republicans endorsing Biden

PHOENIX – Former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona announced Monday he was crossing party lines to endorse Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Flake and a group called Republicans for Biden launched about the same time Monday that the GOP convention formally renominated President Donald Trump.

“I wholeheartedly endorse Joe Biden for president,” Flake said in a video message.

Biden’s campaign said in a press release the group’s formation was a “strong rebuke to the current administration.”

Others in the group included another former Arizona lawmaker, U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe.

Flake, who retired in 2019, said he had never voted for a Democrat running for president before but Biden was a “good and decent man.”

About two dozen current and former politicians are in the faction.

A vocal critic of Trump’s for the past few years, Flake said in April he would not vote for the president in the general election.

“There is a sickness in our system,” Flake said Monday, “and we’ve infected the whole country with it.”

Previous commanders-in-chief, “possessed a keen awareness that a president’s principal role was not to serve himself or his interests or the interests of his clan, but the people of the United States.”

Flake did not seek reelection at the end of his term after serving from 2013, saying he was out of step with the Republican Party in the era of Trump.

He also wrote a book, “Conscience of a Conservative,” that was critical of Trump.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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