President Donald Trump and outgoing senator Bob Corker of Tennessee got into an unexpected and personal Twitter fight Sunday morning, the nastiest public conflict yet between the White House and Senate Republicans.
President Trump began the tongue-lashing at 10 a.m., jeering that Corker had begged him for an endorsement and then decided to retire when the president would not agree because he “didn’t have the guts to run.”
(CNN reported Sunday that Trump had actually offered his endorsement, but Corker had decided to retire anyway.)
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…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2017
Trump’s anger was apparently prompted by Corker’s comments last week that “Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Mattis, and Chief of Staff Kelly are those people that help separate our country from chaos,” which some saw as a dig against the president.
Trump’s punching down at rivals on Twitter is nothing new. What was new was Corker’s response: The senator tweeted that the White House “has become an adult day care center.”
Congressional Republicans have long tiptoed around Trump’s controversial comments and actions for fear of reprisals from the temperamental president. But Corker’s decision not to seek re-election has apparently given him the freedom to take the gloves off.
