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Jeff Flake on Arizona's political turmoil, new ambassador position

Cindy McCain Jeff Flake
Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, and former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake before a confirmation hearing on their nominations to be ambassadors.

While serving as one of Arizona’s U.S. senators, Jeff Flake wasn’t shy about criticizing then-President Donald Trump for his insulting, anti-immigrant rhetoric and overall uncivil way of practicing politics. That criticism ended up making him one of Trump’s favorite targets and eventually led Flake not to run for reelection.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Flake endorsed Democrat Joe Biden, and Biden won Arizona — becoming only the third Democratic presidential nominee to be victorious here since World War II. Flake was later nominated by President Biden to become the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, a position Flake will officially take Dec. 7.

Before that, The Show spoke with the ambassador-designate and began the conversation by asking whether he has the same concerns about a number of Arizona Republican candidates for governor and U.S. Senate as he did about former President Trump.

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Steve Goldstein was a host at KJZZ from 1997 to 2022.