Commentators on the right and left had radically different reactions to Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake's announcement Tuesday he is retiring from the Senate when his current term expires.
Conservatives scoffed at Flake's assertion he wants no further part in what he called his party's appeasement of President Donald Trump's White House.
Fox News' Greg Gutfeld said Flake took a line straight from the left on climate change when he said we have to answer to our children and grandchildren.
"Like, if you don't act now you're gonna be answering to future generations," Gutfeld said on Fox News Channel's "The Five." "Basically what he's saying is that if you don't do what he's doing you're complicit."
If Flake really believes that, Gutfeld said, he should stay in the Senate and fight.
Gutfeld, and several conservatives on Twitter, pointed out that Flake has been falling in the polls for years, long before Trump made his debut on the political scene.
Liberals, on the other hand, praised Flake's speech for calling out Republicans and a lesson in standing up to bullies.
Anti-Trump conservatives lauded Flake as well, including Evan McMullin, who challenged Trump in the general election.
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