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Trump Snubs Corker By Canceling Meeting

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President Trump “delivered a parting snub to one of his biggest congressional critics, as even his Republican allies laid into administration officials for the White House’s surprise announcement that U.S. troops would be withdrawing from Syria because, as the president put it on Twitter, Islamic State forces there had been defeated,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) went “to the White House for a previously scheduled meeting with Trump where he planned to ask him about the Syria decision. Instead, while he was waiting, Trump canceled on him without explanation.”

Said Corker: “It’s obviously a political decision.”

Corker Mum on Trump Primary Challenge

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Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) wouldn’t tell MSNBC whether or not he’d support a primary challenge against President Trump in 2020.

Said Corker: “We’ve got to remember what the Republican Party is. What is happening right now is not the standard Republicanism that we’ve had in our country for many, many years.”

Corker Says Crown Prince Ordered Murder

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Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would be convicted of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in “30 minutes” if there were a jury trial, Politico reports.

“Corker and members of both parties expressed unbridled rage at Salman in the aftermath of the briefing from CIA Director Gina Haspel, which focused primarily on how Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey earlier this year.”

Said Corker: “I have zero question in my mind that the crown prince directed the murder … zero question. Let me just put it this way. If he was in front of a jury he would have a unanimous verdict in 30 minutes. A guilty verdict.”

Washington Post: “This is completely contrary to the narrative that has been put forward by President Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo.”

Corker Says Trump Governs Based on Anger and Hate

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Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that President Trump’s governing model “is based upon division, anger and resentment, and in some cases, even hate.”

Said Corker: “He is able to keep his base together by his approach and instead of appealing to our better angels and trying to unite us like most people would try to do, the president tries to divide us. There’s just no reason for it, and it doesn’t take us to a better place to squander the well-earned good will that we have around the world at a time when our leadership is more important than ever.”

Corker’s Departure Puts Saudi Sanctions In Doubt

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“Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), one of the most outspoken critics of President Trump in the Senate Republican Conference, is due to relinquish the Foreign Relations Committee gavel to Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), a Trump loyalist who will be much more likely to defend the president next year,” The Hill reports.

“The looming leadership change on the committee could make it more difficult for Corker to press the administration on its Saudi Arabia policy, which is under increased scrutiny following the death of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”

White House Won’t Share Intelligence on Khashoggi Case

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Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) says that the Trump administration has “clamped down” on intelligence regarding the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, CBS News reports.

Corker told the Washington Post that an intelligence briefing scheduled for this week had been canceled and for the time being, there would be no more intelligence shared with the Senate.

Quote of the Day

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“Inadvertently somebody will do something that’s insensitive. I would not be wanting to ask questions about something like this.”

— Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), quoted by the Washington Post, defending the decision to have outside counsel question Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford at tomorrow’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Bonus Quote of the Day

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“I mean seriously, on the tweets, is anybody even paying attention anymore? I mean there’s so many of them, they conflict each other so much. Nobody pays attention around here.”

— Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), quoted by The Hill, on President Trump’s use of Twitter.

Quote of the Day

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“We are in a strange place. I mean, it’s almost, it’s becoming a cultish thing, isn’t it? And it’s not a good place for any party to end up with a cult-like situation as it relates to a president that happens to be of — purportedly, of the same party.”

— Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), quoted by The Hill.

Corker Accuses GOP Lawmakers of Cowering to Trump

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Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) accused his party of cowering before President Trump in an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, CNN reports.

“In an animated exchange, Corker — who was trying to get a vote on an amendment as part of an ongoing debate over the Senate’s defense bill — argued that Republicans were blocking his trade proposal because they were afraid of Trump and what he might do to the party if they upset him in an election year.”

Said Corker: “We might poke the bear! My gosh, if the President gets upset with us we might not be in the majority.”

He added: “The United States Senate right now on June 12 is becoming a body where, well, we’ll do what we can do, but my gosh, if the President gets upset with us, then we might not be in the majority. And so let’s don’t do anything that might upset the President.”

Corker Decries ‘Constant Chaos’ in the White House

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Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who once described the White House as an “adult day-care center,” lamented that President Trump governs in a state of “constant chaos” and denounced his attacks on federal law enforcement agencies, the media and other U.S. institutions, the Washington Post reports.

Said Corker: “You know, for the chief of staff it’s got to be a nightmare that at night there are people calling in from all over the country, he’s calling them, and the chief of staff doesn’t know they’re calling.”

He also blasted the “grotesque” spending bill signed by Trump: “This president, obviously, is not a president who’s interested in fiscal issues. Is this president a president who cares about the fiscal health of our nation? No. No.”

Corker Regrets Vote for Tax Bill

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Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) lamented that his recent vote for the GOP tax bill could be one of the worst of his career if projections that it will add nearly $2 trillion to the deficit prove to be accurate, the Tennessean reports.

Said Corker: “None of us have covered ourselves in glory. This Congress and this administration likely will go down as one of the most fiscally irresponsible administrations and Congresses that we’ve had.”

He also said that the recent spending bill was it “one of the most grotesque pieces of legislation I can remember.”

Trump Aides Made Sure Bob Corker Wouldn’t Run

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Washington Post: “Many of President Trump’s political aides made it a priority to ensure that the Tennessean, who has accused the president of ‘debasing’ the country with his ‘untruths’ and ‘name-calling,’ did not reenter the race. So they went straight to the one person with the ability to give Corker a new lease on his political life: Trump himself.”

“They frequently reminded the president of Corker’s criticism, at times even providing specific examples. They kept folders documenting the attacks from Corker and other Trump detractors. They argued that if Trump backed Corker, all that ugliness would receive renewed national attention.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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