Bob Corker: Primarying Trump Would Be a ‘Good Thing for Our Country’

Former Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said Tuesday the country and the party would benefit from a primary challenge to President Donald Trump in 2020.

Corker said in an interview at the Time 100 Summit in New York:

You could look at it and say that it would be a good thing for our country should that occur. If you had a real primary, where you had someone that was really being listened to, and of substance, things that we were talking about — and I could go through a list of them — they would actually be debated in a real way.

The former Tennessee senator cautioned, however, that if Trump faced a less challenging opponent, he or she would recieve little media attention. Only former Massachusetts Gov. and 2016 Libertarian vice presidential candidate Bill Weld has declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination in 2020. The media has speculated over whether Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan or Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) would mount a challenge to Trump.

Corker, who retired this year, fought alongside former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) as one of the more vocal GOP critics to President Trump in the Senate.

Trump frequently attacked the Tennesee senator as “Liddle Bob Corker.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) replaced Corker in the Senate after she defeated Democrat candidate Phil Bredesen. Corker gave Blackburn a lukewarm endorsement during her Senate race.

In the interview, Corker suggested that, instead of Democrats or the media, Trump continues to divide the country.

“Typically, to unite people, you have to wish to do so, and I think that currently, the president has not found that to his benefit or to his liking,” Corker said.

Asked about his political future, Corker said,  “I have no thoughts about future public service. As far as what is next, I truly don’t know. I’m trying to discern that.”