Once briefly one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters, outgoing Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker would not say if the president should face a primary challenger in 2020.
The Tennessee Republican was an early supporter of Trump’s 2016 campaign, but has soured on the president over the past year or so, and has been mentioned as a potential challenger to Trump in the upcoming Republican presidential primary. (RELATED: CORKER: Senate Judiciary Committee Members Should ‘Move On’ If Ford Declines Opportunity To Testify)
In an interview with MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt, Corker bemoaned the current state of the Republican party under Trump’s leadership.
“I do think we’ve got to remember what the Republican Party is,” Corker said. “What’s happening right now is not the standard Republicanism that we’ve had in our country for many, many years and it’s very different.”
Corker refused to rule out a challenge of his own to Trump, while also declining to say if the president should face a primary challenger at all.
“I want to get away from here and think about that,” Corker said. “I think it’s important to remind people that we’re going through an anomaly right now as it relates to much of the standard Republican focus that’s been around for a long time.”
Corker also declined to rule out voting for the Democratic nominee in 2020.
WHOA.
Sen. Corker’s answer on whether a Democratic president in 2020 would be better for the country than a re-elected Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/CoaNrwEh8J
— Kasie DC (@KasieDC) December 17, 2018
“I don’t wanna speak to that yet,” Corker said. “Let’s see what happens.”
Criticism from Corker isn’t entirely new. After originally joining Trump’s national security advisory council in October of 2016, Corker in the months following apparently thought multiple comments and actions made by Trump and his administration were wrong.
Corker will be replaced as the state’s junior senator Jan. 3rd, when Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn takes over.
