One day after Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake dropped a bombshell on the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, he appeared with Delaware Sen. Chris Coons Saturday, onstage at the Global Citizen Festival in New York City.
At the seventh annual festival, which takes place as the U.N. General Assembly winds down, the two senators delivered a message of democracy and global prosperity. It was a different tone than the one which shaped the intense week prior. Both men serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversaw testimony on Thursday from Kavanaugh, a nominee for the Supreme Court, and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who has alleged that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the 1980s.
Onstage, the two senators spoke of their “deep and genuine friendship” and the time they each spent in Africa as young men. They touted their mutual commitment to educating women, addressing health crises and promoting peace and prosperity abroad. The Global Citizen Festival, held in Central Park every year, has the goal of ending extreme poverty around the world by 2030.
“A stable and prosperous world keeps all of us strong and prosperous,” Flake said.
Both Senators appealed to Americans and people around the world to keep reaching out to them.
“There are people’s voices we need to hear,” Coons said. “From around the world and here in our own country.”
During Friday’s vote to confirm Kavanaugh out of the Judiciary Committee, the two senators met in private to discuss the impact of Ford’s allegations. Though Flake did not change his position, he only agreed to forward Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Senate floor under the condition that the FBI conduct an investigation of Ford’s allegations before the final confirmation vote.
“It was our personal relationship that made the politics of compromise that prevailed yesterday possible,” Coons said.
During his speech, Flake also made reference to his confrontation with an alleged victim of sexual assault in an elevator on Friday, which many see as a galvanizing factor in his reconsideration.
“Feel free to join me in an elevator anytime,” Flake said.
Watch their speech in the video below:
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