Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake teared up Sunday morning when discussing his colleague Sen. John McCain’s legacy, less than a day after the elder statesman’s death.
Flake said that he was with McCain on Friday to say goodbye, and to thank McCain’s family. He stressed that McCain’s « voice for civility » was especially important this past year.
« His voice was important, has been for years, but never more important than the past year, » Flake said. « It’s tough to have a voice like that silenced — this voice for civility, to put the country above your party, these are things that he taught for years and never more important than the last year. »
Flake also said that he « admired » McCain’s dramatic « no » vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act in July of last year despite voting the other way, as well as McCain’s emphasis on senators working together across party lines.
« He spoke to the Senate at that time, about how we needed to come together and not just do things in a partisan way, » Flake added. « That was his biggest issue with that approach that we were taking, that it wasn’t a bipartisan approach.
« John McCain is quintessential Arizonan — he’s a maverick, he’s independent. I didn’t vote the same way he did, but I admired him for doing what he did, » Flake said.
