Even by Republican standards, Donald Trump has been a shitty, ineffective president. Despite his factually incorrect brags about passing major legislation, he has yet to sign any major bill even with the GOP controlling the House and the Senate. Instead, he's focused on damaging diplomatic relations with US allies and waging cyberwar on military widows, the "fake media," and NFL players, and his ostensible Republican allies.
Throughout the election, the GOP reluctantly stood by Trump as he repeatedly humiliated himself and the party, perhaps with the hope that once he got into the Oval Office, his vulgarity and his remarkable ability to always know the wrong thing to say wouldn't hinder the party's agenda. And Trump has done some things Republicans agree with, such as getting Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court and slashing regulations despised by major GOP donors.
But with Trump lurching from one faux pas to the next, it's fair to ask if he's finally alienated enough of the Republican Party for its leaders to start pushing back against him.
The cracks in the alliance are obvious; Prominent conservative senators Jeff Flake and Ben Sasse have made names for themselves denouncing Trump, though they haven't broken with him on any legislative matters. Arizona Senator John McCain has blocked an attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and has lately started openly mocking the president. A number of moderate Republican congressmen are choosing not to run for reelection. But perhaps the most important Trump defector to date is Tennessee Senator Bob Corker.
On Tuesday, a month after Corker announced he would not be seeking reelection, the president lashed out on Twitter, claiming, "Corker dropped out of the race in Tennesse [sic] when I refused to endorse him, and now is only negative on anything Trump." A couple hours later he followed up with a classic Trumpism, tweeting, "People like liddle' Bob Corker have set the U.S. way back. Now we move forward!"
Corker and Trump's feud began about two weeks ago when the senator, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted, "It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning." But Corker went in deeper in a CNN interview on Tuesday morning, just hours before the president planned to join Senate Republicans for their weekly lunch.
Though he told CNN congressional reporter Manu Raju he wouldn't call Trump a "liar," he basically did exactly that: "Four times he encouraged me to run and told me he would endorse me," he said. "Unfortunately I think world leaders are very aware that much of what he says is untrue. Certainly people here are, because these things are provably untrue. They're factually incorrect and people know the difference. I don't know why he lowers himself to such a low, low standard that debases our country in the way that he does, but he does."
When Raju asked if Corker regretted supporting Trump in the election, the senator said, "Let's put it this way: I would not do that again… He's obviously not going to rise to the occasion as president," adding that Trump has "lack of desire to be competent on issues."
Corker also said that Trump is "absolutely not" a role model to American children and that "the debasement of our nation is what he'll be remembered most for... It's very sad for our nation."
All of this has been said before by Trump critics—the idea of Mr. "Grab 'Em By the Pussy" being a role for children is laughable—but this is probably the most direct and harshest criticism Trump has received from a Republican who's in office since he moved into the White House. It's true that Corker isn't running for reelection and may feel free to say what's actually on his mind (the same goes for McCain), but what that means is that there are likely many Republicans who think as Corker does but who can't speak frankly because of political considerations.
But what if those considerations change? Trump's hostility toward Congress as a whole, like his recent undermining of the bipartisan healthcare deal supporter by Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander and other Republicans, shows that he has no reservations about hindering the GOP agenda. At what point will more Republicans figure they don't need Trump's approval to win reelection and join Corker—and Flake and Sasse—and openly criticize Trump? And at what point will they take more extreme action?
Follow Eve Peyser on Twitter.
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