Bob Corker tirade encapsulates five reasons why Trump has failed at governing
What you need to know about Trump’s Twitter feud with Corker
BY JAMES HOHMANN
with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve
THE BIG IDEA: Donald Trump’s escalating feud with Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, captures in miniature why he’s been ineffective during his first nine months as president.
— It’s unclear what exactly triggered the thin-skinned commander in chief to post three tweets attacking the Tennessee senator on Sunday morning. The most plausible explanation is that he was reacting to a segment on “Fox News Sunday.” The show aired a soundbite of Corker telling reporters last week that Rex Tillerson is one of three people in the administration who “separate our country from chaos.” That came in response to an NBC report that the secretary of state had called the president a “moron.”
“Senator Bob Corker ‘begged’ me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said ‘NO’ and he dropped out (said he could not win without my endorsement),” Trump tweeted. “He also wanted to be Secretary of State, I said ‘NO THANKS.’ He is also largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal! Hence, I would fully expect Corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didn’t have the guts to run!”
— Corker, who has felt liberated since announcing his retirement last month, gleefully fired back. His office quickly went on the record to insist that Trump had, in fact, promised to endorse him, urged him not to retire and just last week asked him to reconsider his decision. The 65-year-old then tweeted this: