Trump vs. Corker: Everything You Need to Know About the Feud That’s Tearing Republicans Apart
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The feud between Donald Trump and Tennessee senator Bob Corker has grown so bitter and so newsworthy that Republican leadership is now telling them to cut it out.
The conflict began months ago. Corker, an early supporter of Donald Trump on the campaign trail, had grown increasingly disillusioned with the president’s conduct. The chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Corker had been advising the president on foreign policy, but began voicing his concerns with Trump’s conduct as far back as a year ago. Back in May, he said the White House was in a “downward spiral.” Still, it wasn’t until the president sympathized with Neo-Nazis after their demonstration at Charlottesville that any public evidence of a real rift emerged.
This was back in August, and The Atlantic reports that Corker had this to say:
“The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful,” Corker told Chattanooga website Nooga.com. “He has not demonstrated that he understands what has made this nation great and what it is today, and he’s got to demonstrate the characteristics of a president who understands that.”
The article goes on to note the president’s response:
Strange statement by Bob Corker considering that he is constantly asking me whether or not he should run again in ‘18. Tennessee not happy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2017