What about Bob? The Tennessee senator’s recent history on taxes and Trump. James Freeman
https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-about-bob-1508870554?cx_testId=17&cx_testVariant=cx&cx_artPos=0&cx_tag=related?cx_campaign=poptart&mod=cx_poptart#cxrecs_s
Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican who has decided not to seek re-election, has lately been trading insults with President Trump over social media—and via traditional media as well. Mr. Corker seems to be enjoying his new freedom to speak his mind without the normal political restraints, and perhaps this can be written off as the congressional equivalent of senioritis. But even if voters no longer get to issue a report card on the good senator, perhaps a little context is in order.
While our President seems to have a knack for getting into ugly public disputes, a timeline constructed by CNN suggests that in this case Mr. Corker has been the aggressor. His criticisms have not been subtle. The senator has repeatedly attacked the President’s competence, stability and integrity.
Since Mr. Corker has lately been issuing public judgments about Mr. Trump’s integrity, it should also be noted–and here, too the CNN timeline is instructive–that Mr. Corker’s comments about Mr. Trump in 2016 were much more favorable than in 2017.
This is interesting because in 2016 Mr. Corker was under consideration for various jobs in a Trump Administration. It is also interesting because if one has sincere concerns about a candidate’s fitness for office, airing them before the election is obviously more valuable to voters than withholding them until after all the votes have been cast. It is also interesting that someone could listen to Mr. Trump for years, including during the long campaign of 2015-2016, and then decide–after observing him assemble a blue-chip cabinet–that he is somehow unfit to lead.
Now Mr. Corker is telling Mr. Trump to butt out of congressional discussions on how to fit all the party’s tax reform priorities into a package that cuts taxes by only $1.5 trillion over 10 years. This seems like the appropriate moment to note that Mr. Corker is the reason why the party has to hold such a difficult discussion. He would only agree to $1.5 trillion in a negotiation with Sen. Pat Toomey and others who wanted to cut more. CONTINUE AT SITE
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