The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 06:31 PM

Tennessee Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) Says President Trump Putting Nation On Course For World War III

WASHINGTON (AP/WVLT) -- President Donald Trump’s Twitter feud with Sen. Bob Corker is spiraling out of control.

Mr. Trump fired off a tweet storm Sunday morning that accused Sen. Corker of lacking the guts to run for re-election.

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Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
Senator Bob Corker "begged" me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said "NO" and he dropped out (said he could not win without...
9:59 AM - Oct 8, 2017
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Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
..my endorsement). He also wanted to be Secretary of State, I said "NO THANKS." He is also largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal!
10:09 AM - Oct 8, 2017
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Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
...Hence, I would fully expect Corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didn't have the guts to run!
10:13 AM - Oct 8, 2017
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Corker responded with a jab of his own. He tweeted: “It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.”

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Senator Bob Corker ✔@SenBobCorker
It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.
11:13 AM - Oct 8, 2017
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In an interview Sunday with The New York Times, Sen. Corker said Pres. Trump could set the U.S. “on the path to World War III” with threats toward other countries. Sen. Corker also said Mr. Trump acted as if he was on his old reality-TV show and that he concerned the senator, adding, “He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation.”

Sen. Corker also said his concerns about President Trump were shared by nearly every Senate Republican, the Times reported.

Sen. Corker’s apparently drawn Mr. Trump’s ire for saying recently that the Pentagon chief, the secretary of state and the president's own chief of staff are “those people that help separate our country from chaos.”

Mr. Trump said he now expects his fellow Republican “to be a negative voice and stand in the way” of the White House’s agenda.

President Trump took another shot at Senator Corker Sunday evening. He said, "Bob Corker gave us the Iran Deal, & that's about it."

Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
Bob Corker gave us the Iran Deal, & that's about it. We need HealthCare, we need Tax Cuts/Reform, we need people that can get the job done!

The Obama administration negotiated the international agreement, and Sen. Corker tried to require that President Barack Obama submit it to Congress for approval.

Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump, on Monday called Sen. Bob Corker's tweet criticizing Trump "incredibly irresponsible."

During an interview on "Fox and Friends," Conway was asked about Corker's tweet on Sunday that referred to the White House as "an adult day care center," with co-host Brian Kilmeade saying it was "a demeaning tweet at the president."

"Well it is, and world leaders see that," Conway replied. "I find tweets like this to be incredibly irresponsible. It adds to the insulting that the mainstream media and the president's detractors ... to their ability and their cover to speak about the president of the United States ... in ways that no president should be talked about."

Conway's comments come a day after the president blasted Corker on Twitter, saying that the Tennessee Republican "begged me to endorse him for re-election."

Corker's office has since rebutted that claim, saying that Trump called Corker last Monday to ask him to reconsider his decision to not run for reelection, adding that the president said he would endorse him if he did.

Since the exchange, Corker has continued to blast Trump.

In an interview with the New York Times, Corker said Trump is leading the United States “on the path to World War III” with threats the president makes toward other countries.

Corker also criticized Trump's tweeting habits, saying the president had undermined diplomacy with his tweeting, but did not offer specifics.

“I know he has hurt, in several instances, he’s hurt us as it relates to negotiations that were underway by tweeting things out," Corker said.