Jeff Flake Defends Press in Senate Floor Speech – Internet Tells Him to Shove It

“Remember that he has voted 90 percent with the president,” says MSNBC anchor Joy Reid on Twitter

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) issued a long denunciation of President Donald Trump on the Senate floor Wednesday and defended the American free press.

“It is past time to stop excusing, or ignoring, or worse, endorsing these attacks on the truth,” said Flake. “For if we compromise the truth for the sake of our politics, we are lost.”

Trump routinely attacks the media, who he has called the “enemy of the people.” Flake also said that Trump was channeling Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin when he made such statements.

“Mr. President, it is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Joseph Stalin to describe his enemies,” Flake said.

Flake has been one of President Trump’s biggest critics within the GOP. While he has been a reliable Republican vote for the president’s agenda, the two men spent much of 2017 criticizing each other.

On Twitter, Flake’s speech was met with skepticism on both the left and the right. Pro-Trump Republicans blasted him as a traitor, while liberals dismissed Flake because of his conservative voting record.

“Before you get all misty eyed about @JeffFlake and his “scathing” Trump speech, remember that he has voted 90 percent with the president, and his rare opposition includes being on the wrong side of disaster aid to Puerto Rico.,” said MSNBC anchor Joy Reid.

“Jeff Flake is no hero.”

https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/953667403505917952

And it pretty much went from there.

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/953653315962916870

https://twitter.com/dmartosko/status/953657550771236865

https://twitter.com/davidsirota/status/953660864216711168

One notable outlier was “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough, a Flake friend who tweeted this helpful image of Joseph Stalin admiring his — very large crowd size.

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