Sen. Bob Corker said Donald Trump’s attack on the heritage of the judge in the Trump University case was wrong “at every level” and “totally inappropriate.”
Appearing on “Morning Joe” on Tuesday, the Tennessee Republican also called on Trump to finally make the pivot to the general election and focus on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“Every campaign gets to an inflection point, or at least most do. And we’re at a point right now … So many people would relish being in the position that Donald Trump is in where he has a chance to change the trajectory of our nation,” Corker said. “I mean, what an opportunity it is there. And so he has within his fingertips the opportunity to pivot, to move to the general election.
“He has an opportunity to realize there’s been some mistakes made, and he has an opportunity to overcome that,” Corker said.
He said he strongly disagrees with Trump’s statements on Curiel.
“At every level. To say that somebody because of their background or their ethnicity has — doesn’t have the ability to carry something out is wrong. That’s not where we are in our country. And, look, in campaigns like this, you have people coming at you. You’ve been involved in a primary. You’ve been with primary people throughout it. This is a time for him to pivot and, by the way, I want to encourage that and I want to remind people like Joe that if he can do that, if he can, you know, move away from pride and say, ‘Hey, we sort of stepped in it here. We need to move in a very different direction.’ This is about unifying our country.”
Corker, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has said some positive things about Trump in the past, also said he plans on helping him make this pivot until he deems him incapable of doing so.
“It is up to him, and I’m going to encourage with every cell in my body until I see that maybe he doesn’t take advantage of this, to take advantage of the opportunity to change the trajectory. There is no way that Secretary Clinton is going to do that. It is not possible. It is not possible. So, yes, I am urging him through this television show to reassess, to realize where he is.
“He has no doubt missed an incredible opportunity. He still has time to pivot. He does. Time is running short, but he has time to do that,” he added.
