President Donald Trump answered criticism from Senator Bob Corker, adding him to a list of Republican senators he has publicly excoriated after they criticized him.
“Strange statement by Bob Corker considering that he is constantly asking me whether or not he should run again in ’18,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Tennessee not happy!”
Corker recently criticized Trump during an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
“The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the competence, that he needs to demonstrate in order for him to be successful,” he said.
Corker’s criticism of Trump surprised Republicans who thought the pair had a working relationship.
Corker dines with Trump on occasion and even went golfing with the president and Peyton Manning. He also frequently advised the president on foreign policy.
“I can’t remember calling over to talk to the president and not being immediately put through and having a conversation with him,” Corker said in July. “I can call him at 10 o’clock at night, and he’ll get on the phone. Or I can call him early in the morning, and he’ll get on the phone.”
Cable news has featured Corker’s criticism prominently, as reporters questioned House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders about his criticism.
“I think that’s a ridiculous and outrageous claim and doesn’t even require a response from this podium,” Sanders. said on Thursday.
Trump does not allow Republican senators to criticize him unchallenged.
“The people of South Carolina will remember!” Trump warned “publicity seeking Lindsey Graham,” after the South Carolina senator criticized Trump in the wake of the Charlottesville protests.
Trump also ridiculed “Flake Jeff Flake,” for being “a non-factor” in the Senate, after the Arizona senator publicly reputed the president during his book tour.