Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., on Wednesday compared the Republican Party to a cult because of how congressional conservative leaders have remained quiet despite infighting among rank-and-file members over President Trump’s changes to tariff policies.
“We’re in a strange place. It’s becoming a cultish thing isn’t it?” the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman told reporters on Capitol Hill.
“It’s not a good place for any party to have a cult-like situation as it relates to a president that happens to be purportedly of the same party,” he added.
Corker, who is retiring in January and has publicly clashed several times with Trump, spoke out against GOP leadership on the Senate floor Tuesday after the White House indicated it would not support his amendment on tariffs that had been included to the National Defense Authorization Act. The addition would have given Congress authority to check a president’s ability to impose tariffs.
Sen. Corker on the Republican Party:
“We are in a strange place. It’s almost, it’s becoming a cultish thing, isn’t it? It’s not a good place for any party to end up with a cult-like situation as it relates to a president that happens to be of, purportedly, of the same party.” pic.twitter.com/Y0i4vuaIxg
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 13, 2018
He said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and “leadership in general” were not going to “poke the bear,” referring to Trump, because they are focused on holding onto the House and Senate in the November midterm elections.
“There’s no question that leadership in general is wary of doing anything that might upset the president,” Corker continued on Wednesday. “I mean, we’re going to be here during recess, generally speaking, which is fine with me, but look, it’s more about Trump being upset than it is anything … I think 95 percent of the people in our caucus, at least, you know, are people that feel we should be able to weigh in on the tariff issue, but some of them are not willing to take on the president.”
Trump announced in March that he would impose double-digit tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, but had granted exceptions to Europe, Mexico, and Canada.
On June 1, Trump pulled the exception and slapped tariffs — 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum. He has defended the move as a way to get even with countries who he argues have capitalized on unfair trade deals.
