24th October, 2017
Tennessee Senator Bob Corker has unleashed a blistering attack on US President Donald Trump, calling the president “utterly untruthful”.
In a series of television interviews, Mr Corker accused the president of lying, adding that he debased the US and weakened its global standing.
Mr Trump fired back on Twitter, calling the top Senator a “lightweight” who “couldn’t get re-elected”.
The pair are due to meet at a Senate lunch to discuss tax reform on Tuesday.
“He is purposely breaking down relationships we have around the world that had been useful to our nation,” Mr Corker said on CNN after Mr Trump criticised him on Twitter.
“I think the debasement of our nation is what he’ll be remembered most for,” he said.
The Foreign Relations Committee head, who was an early supporter of Mr Trump, added that the president has “great difficulty with truth”.
Last month Mr Corker announced that he would not seek re-election at next year’s mid-term elections.
Mr Corker had voted against the 2015 agreement to curb Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, calling it “flawed”, but later said Mr Trump should not “tear up” the agreement.
Mr Trump’s tweets on Tuesday appeared to be in response to Mr Corker’s comments on ABC News’ Good Morning America, in which he suggested the president should stop interfering in the debate on tax legislation.
The president is planning to head to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to rally Senate Republicans on a White House-backed tax reform plan.
Mr Corker’s support for the plan could be crucial as Republicans seek to pass the legislation in the divided upper chamber.
The Tennessee lawmaker also raised concern with the president’s behaviour toward North Korea, saying Mr Trump “continues to kneecap his diplomatic representative, the secretary of state”.
He added that when it comes to diplomacy with Pyongyang, Mr Trump should “leave it to the professionals for a while”.
Following Mr Trump’s attack, Mr Corker fired back on Twitter.
-BBC