Corker Seen as Viable Trump Pick

Mike Allen: “Republican insiders are buzzing about Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), chair of Senate Foreign Relations, as an attractive, plausible vice-presidential pick for Trump. Corker — age 63, to Trump’s 69 — surprised many in Washington by lavishing on-camera praise on Trump’s foreign-policy speech two weeks ago. Last week, Corker told USA Today‘s Mary Troyan, who covers Tennessee for Gannett, that he ‘offered to help Donald Trump develop a foreign policy platform, making him one of the few senators to publicly embrace Trump … Trump called him last week and he and Trump’s campaign staff have talked since then.'”

A Republican who knows Corker well said: “He’s an independent guy – kind of a tough guy – who’s not afraid to swim upstream. He’s frustrated by being in the Senate and not getting anything done. I think he’d really lean into this. He’s not afraid to buck the old guard. And he’s no dummy: He jumped out on the Trump thing early.”