Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., was able to visit fellow Arizona lawmaker Sen. John McCain before he died on Saturday after battling brain cancer for a year.
“I was privileged to be there the day before he passed,” Flake said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “His entire family was gathered around, the door was open, an old creek just dribbling by. It was just incredibly wonderful.”
Flake, who is retiring this year, reflected on the life of his fellow Arizona senator and lamented the loss of McCain’s brand of politics, particularity his behavior in the last year under President Trump. McCain famously voted against the GOP’s attempt to pass a “skinny” Obamacare repeal, a decision that Trump has repeatedly criticized.
“He’s a maverick, he’s independent,” Flake said. “I didn’t vote the same way he did, but I admired him for what he did.”
After McCain’s death, Trump offered his “deepest sympathies and respect” for the senator’s family.
