Washington (CNN) In his farewell speech to Congress, departing GOP Senator Jeff Flake issued a warning that "the threats to our democracy from within and without are real" and that the country is experiencing a "moment of political dysfunction and upheaval."

Flake, a frequent conservative critic of President Donald Trump, made the remarks in an address on the Senate floor. The Arizona Republican is retiring at the end of his current term and leaving the Senate.

During the speech, Flake argued that democracy is at risk of being undermined not just in the United States, but also abroad in the face of what he described as a resurgent "authoritarian impulse."

"As the authoritarian impulse reasserts itself globally and global commitment to democracy seems now to be on somewhat shaky ground, I have been thinking a lot recently about the American commitment to democracy, where it comes from and how if the circumstances were right, it might slip away," he said.

Flake later said, "The shadow of tyranny is once again enveloping parts of the globe and let us recognize as authoritarianism reasserts itself in country after country, that we are by no means immune."

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