Vice President Mike Pence defended President Trump on Monday after Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., criticized the president’s leadership and warned Trump may be putting the U.S. “on the path to World War III.”
In a statement Monday, Pence praised the president for “achieving real results on the international stage,” and accused his critics of engaging in “empty rhetoric and baseless attacks.”
“[U]nder the President’s leadership, ISIS is on the run; North Korea is isolated like never before; and our NATO allies are doing more to pay their fair share for our common defense,” the vice president said. “By increasing our national defense and re-engaging our allies, President Donald Trump has restored the credibility of American power. Today our nation once again stands, without apology, as leader of the free world. That’s what American leadership on the world stage looks like and no amount of criticism at home can diminish those results.”
Trump attacked Corker in a series of tweets Sunday morning, and said the Tennessee Republican “begged” the president to endorse him before decided against running for re-election next year.
The president said Corker “didn’t have the guts” to run for a third term.
Corker leveled his own criticisms against Trump on Twitter and said the White House “has become an adult day care center.”
“Someone obviously missed their shift this morning,” Corker tweeted.
The Tennessee senator spoke about Trump in an interview with the New York Times and said the president “concerns” him. Corker also disputed Trump’s recollections of their conversations about whether the senator would run again, and said it was the president who urged Corker to seek re-election.
“He concerns me,” Corker told the New York Times of the president. “He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation.”
