“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.
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.”
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) turned down an offer to become next U.S. ambassador to Australia, the Tennessean reports.
Said Corker: “I had a number of conversations with both President Trump and Secretary Pompeo. At the end of the day though…it just felt like it wasn’t the right step.”
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.”
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.”
“You know, there are a lot of discussions about the fact that maybe the Republican Party has lost its soul.”
— Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), quoted by the Washington Post.
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.”
“Brushing aside pleas from some of his fellow Republicans, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) hasn’t changed his mind about retirement and won’t seek re-election,” the Tennessean reports.
Politico: “The move ends a period of intense speculation in Tennessee and Washington about Corker’s future and avoids what could have been an ugly primary between Corker and Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn.”
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) “has been reconsidering his decision to retire this year, but Mr. Corker’s hopes for retaining his seat are running into a potentially insurmountable object: President Trump,” the New York Times reports.
“Just over four months after Mr. Corker, upon declaring he would retire, unleashed a biting series of attacks on Mr. Trump, the president is refusing to bless his friend-turned-foe’s effort to re-enter the Republican primary race.”
“Instead, in a telephone conversation last week, Mr. Trump offered encouragement to Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), a conservative lawmaker and White House ally who has emerged as the favorite to win the Republican nomination for Mr. Corker’s seat.”
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said President Trump’s unpredictability “is paying dividends for the United States abroad as his administration tries to reshape the nation’s role in the world,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Corker: “The president and I haven’t always seen eye to eye. On the other hand, I’ve seen where that unpredictability has been helpful in negotiations.”
He added: “He’s has done an incredible job of rallying the animal spirits in our country, there’s no question.”
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN),” who is traveling Monday on Air Force One with President Trump, has repaired his relationship with the commander in chief after the two men exchanged fierce words in the fall,” CNN reports.
“The two have spoken several times since late last year, particularly as Corker was weighing whether to support the sweeping tax overhaul… Corker’s moves to make amends with Trump reflect a calculation among many Senate Republicans: While they may complain about what they view as his erratic behavior, they will soothe over tense relations and look past previous disputes to get on his good side in order to influence him over key decisions.”
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) “failed to properly disclose millions of dollars in income from real estate, hedge funds and other investments since entering the Senate in 2007,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mr. Corker late Friday filed a series of amendments showing that his personal financial reports as originally filed included dozens of errors and omissions.”
Politico: “Days before his surprise announcement that he would support the GOP tax bill, Sen. Bob Corker had been summoning administration officials and economists to his office to see whether he could ultimately get on board with the plan. One was Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former Congressional Budget Office director and adviser to GOP presidential campaigns who painstakingly went through varying analyses of the tax measure as Corker — accompanied by at least a half-dozen aides and stacks of spreadsheets — drilled him with questions.”
“The mystery over Corker’s flip quickly swirled into a political firestorm over suggestions that the senator decided to support the tax measure only after winning a provision that could personally enrich him. Liberal activists and lawmakers declared it the ‘Corker Kickback,’ in a last-ditch bid to derail the bill — or at least further tarnish Republicans’ big tax win this week.”
“I had like a two-page summary I went through with leadership. I never saw the actual text.”
— Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), in an interview with the International Business Times, denying knowing about a controversial last-minute provision slipped into the Republican tax bill that could personally enrich him.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said that he will support the GOP tax plan, saying the legislation represents a “once-in-a-generation opportunity,” The Hill reports.
Said Corker: “I know every bill we consider is imperfect and the question becomes is our country better off with or without this piece of legislation. I think we are better off with it. I realize this is a bet on our country’s enterprising spirit, and that is a bet I am willing to make.”
Axios: “Corker’s vote essentially cements the tax bill’s passage before the Christmas deadline.”