Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona disparaged President Donald Trump’s promise to erect a physical border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, arguing “nobody ought to support” the idea.
“Obviously all of us believe in border security. It depends what he means by the wall and we still really haven’t seen what he means by the wall,” Flake said on CNN’s State of the Union. “If that’s a metaphor for border security we can support that but if he’s talking about a solitary, brick and mortar two thousand mile edifice on the border, then no, nobody ought to support that.”
Immigration has played a key role in Trump’s recent attacks on Flake. Trump has repeatedly called the Arizona conservative “weak” on border security and has expressed public support for his primary challenger Dr. Kelli Ward.
Great to see that Dr. Kelli Ward is running against Flake Jeff Flake, who is WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate. He's toxic!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
Flake addressed Trump’s vocal criticisms, defending his attacks on much of the President’s agenda as his duty to the people of Arizona.
“The people in Arizona tend to elect independent-minded, principled senators: Barry Goldwater, John McCain. I think the voters here expect me to have my own franchise, to represent them, not be a rubber stamp for the president, so I’m quite comfortable being where I am.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting deputy commissioner Ronald Vitiello said this week that construction will begin on four prototypes for the border wall in the coming weeks.
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