President Trump called Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and asked the retiring Republican to reconsider his decision and offered to endorse him — and then lied about the call in a tweet Sunday morning, according to a source familiar with the call.
Trump tweeted Sunday morning Corker “‘begged’ me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee” and Trump turned him down. According to Trump, that’s what caused Corker to decide to retire at the end of his current term instead of running a third time in 2018.
That call went a bit different, according to the source.
“All claims made in the president’s tweets are false,” the source said. “The president called the senator early last week 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.”
Corker has not shied away from criticizing Trump during his time in office, but the two have generally seemed to be collegial.
That changed Sunday morning with Trump’s tweets about Corker following the Republican’s comments during the week that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin are preventing the administration from devolving into chaos.
“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),” Trump tweeted. “He also wanted to be Secretary of State, I said “NO THANKS.” He is also largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal!”
“Hence, I would fully expect Corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didn’t have the guts to run!”
Corker fired back, “It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.”
