Senate

Corker fires back: Trump’s White House ‘has become an adult day care center’

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) fired back at President Trump after his criticism on Sunday, calling Trump’s White House “an adult day care center.”

“It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center,” Corker said. “Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.”

{mosads}Trump attacked Corker in a series of tweets Sunday morning, saying Corker was retiring from the Senate after he “begged” Trump for an endorsement and Trump refused.

Corker “didn’t have the guts to run,” Trump tweeted.

“Senator Bob Corker ‘begged’ me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said ‘NO’ and he dropped out (said he could not win without my endorsement). He also wanted to be Secretary of State, I said ‘NO THANKS.’ He is also largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal!” Trump tweeted.

Trump then said he “fully expect[s]” Corker to “be a negative voice” and “stand in the way of our great agenda.”

Later on Sunday, Corker’s office also weighed in on the president’s tweets.

“The president called Senator Corker on Monday afternoon and asked him to reconsider his decision not to seek reelection and reaffirmed that he would have endorsed him, as he has said many times,” Todd Womack, the senator’s chief of staff, said in a statement.

Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced in September he wouldn’t seek reelection in 2018, becoming the first senator to do so. He has been increasingly critical of Trump’s administration, although during Trump’s campaign he was briefly considered as vice president. 

The Tennessee Republican said Wednesday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and White House chief of staff John Kelly are keeping the U.S. from “chaos.”

Corker said the three men “work well together to make sure that the policies that we put forth around the world are sound and coherent.” He added, “I hope they stay.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders fired back Trump is “the one that’s keeping the world from chaos.”

“I think the president is the one that’s keeping the world from chaos,” Sanders said Friday. “He has an incredible team around him that’s helping him lead that effort, and he’s had tremendous accomplishments on the international stage by working with allies and confronting enemies.”

— Updated at 11:47 a.m.