Corker Comes Out Of ‘Self-Imposed Sabbatical’ Swinging At Trump

Former Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker says he’s been on a self-imposed, two-year sabbatical since leaving office. But now he plans to speak out regularly and forcefully against former President Donald Trump, who he says had some major policy achievements but whose actions — especially related to undermining the election results — are “unforgivable.”

Corker said Thursday in an interview with MSNBC that some good policies were put in place, but the way the head of the party the president, conducted himself has been damaging.

“To me, [it] makes him not eligible to ever be in that place again.”

“We’ve really lost our bearings”: former @SenBobCorker says he hopes the Republican party will evolve “back to a more mature place” in the post-Trump era. pic.twitter.com/Ja4fkfbyRo

— Hallie Jackson Reports (@HallieOnMSNBC) January 28, 2021

In an hour-long interview with PBS’s Frontline for an episode titled “Trump’s American Carnage,” the Tennessee Republican says he has seen since leaving Washington how dangerous it is to accommodate a demagogue like Trump.

“I mean, people that I respect, that I’ve known all my life, the things that they believe because this president has said them, is unbelievable to me,” he says. “I can’t even carry on a conversation any more about it because he said it, they believe it.”

Many Republican voters also hate Democrats so much, they’re willing to overlook some of the “sketchy” things Trump says and does, Corker says.

And the mistrust won’t just go away.

“There are people all across our country, it’s amazing, who truly believe the election was stolen, will always believe the election was stolen,” Corker says. “It’s a very dangerous situation that this climate exists.”

Asked if he regrets not saying more when he was in office, Corker says he spoke out more than almost any other Republican senator. He also says he was “there on a mission” and would try to help guide Trump during critical moments.

Early in Trump’s presidency, Corker says he was often asked by White House aides to call just minutes before Trump was to make a big decision so no one else from a “fringe group” would derail an announcement.

But at this point, Corker says Republican leaders have to speak up when “untruths” are being spread as fact or another mob could be incited and cause even more destruction than the one that stormed the U.S. Capitol.

“We’ve got to be aware and push back against it instantly,” he says, “or we’re going to have other kinds of issues like this occur in our country, unfortunately.”