Time USA - October 23, 2017

12 TIME October 23, 2017

The Brief

BOB CORKER IS KNOWN AROUND WASHING-
ton as a pragmatist, not a hothead. So when
the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee lashed back at President Donald
Trump on Oct. 8, the town took notice. “It’s a
shame the White House has become an adult
day care center. Someone obviously missed
their shift this morning,” Corker tweeted
after Trump unleashed a series of attacks on
the Tennessee Republican. Corker wasn’t
done. In a follow-up interview he said that
Trump was setting the U.S. “on the path to
World War III” and treating his office like “a
reality show.” And he suggested many of his
Senate colleagues share this view. “He con-
cerns me,” Corker told the New YorkTimes.
“He would have to concern anyone who cares
about our nation.”
Corker’s remarks landed amid NBC News
reports that Trump’s own Secretary of State,
Rex Tillerson, had called the President a
“moron” in July after a two-and-
a-half-hour visit to the Pentagon,
where Trump allegedly asked
for an almost tenfold increase
in the nation’s nuclear arsenal.
In response to NBC’s reporting,
Trump threatened to boot the
network from public airwaves.
Taken together, the episodes left
the President’s partners with new
doubts about the boss’s capacity.
The clash with Corker also
has the potential to paralyze the
President’s agenda—and not
only the parts that run through
Corker’s committee. With just
52 Republican Senators, the White House has
little room for defections. Corker has signaled
concerns about the tax plan that is increasingly
the cornerstone of Trump’s domestic program.
The war of words with Corker—a onetime
ally who announced that he will retire at the
end of 2018—was a reminder that much of the
GOP would turn on the President if given a
consequence-free chance.
A former Chattanooga mayor and real
estate developer, Corker once embraced the
role of Washington sherpa to the New York
mogul. When Corker came forward in
April 2016 to praise Trump’s first major
foreign-policy speech, he helped legitimize
Trump at a moment when much of the GOP
was unwilling to vouch for him. Corker
began to advise Trump’s improv troupe of a
campaign and argued the candidate would
mature in the Oval Office. Trump considered
the Tennessean for the role of running mate

TICKER

Google saw Russia

ad spending too

Russian operatives

reportedly spent tens

of thousands of dollars

on ads across Google

products, including

YouTube and Gmail,

in an attempt to

meddle in the 2016

U.S. election. The

company said it was

investigating attempts

to abuse its systems.

Kim Jong Un

promotes his sister

North Korean leader

Kim Jong Un promoted

his sister Kim Yo

Jong, the youngest

daughter of late leader

Kim Jong Il, to make

her a member of

the Workers’ Party’s

politburo, the country’s

top decisionmaking

body, amid a wider

reshuffle.

Another rally in

Charlottesville

White nationalists once

again congregated in

Charlottesville, Va., for

a torch rally on Oct. 7,

less than two months

after the college town

descended into chaos

when clashes broke

out between self-styled

“alt-right” groups and

antifascist protesters.

Fearless Girl firm

underpaid women

The firm behind the

Fearless Girl statue on

New York City’s Wall

Street agreed to pay

$5 million after the

U.S. Department of

Labor said it underpaid

305 women and

discriminated against

black employees.

and later as a possible Secretary of State.

If Corker thought Trump’s instinct to

fight would fade, he has been disappointed.

Meanwhile, Corker has fostered a friendship

with Tillerson, whose own relationship

with the White House has grown strained.

On Oct. 4, Corker praised Tillerson—along

with Secretary of Defense James Mattis and

White House chief of staff John Kelly—as

the “people that help separate our country

from chaos.”

Trump didn’t appreciate that. He took to

Twitter to allege that Corker had “begged”

for Trump’s endorsement when pondering

another Senate term (a claim Corker denied)

and “didn’t have the guts to run!” Then

Trump toldForbes that Tillerson, the former

CEO of Exxon, isn’t as smart as he thinks he

is. “I guess we’ll have to compare IQ tests,”

the President said. “And I can tell you who is

going to win.” Trump later referred to Corker

as “Liddle Bob.”

While other lawmakers share

Corker’s concerns, few want

to see the spat continue. Some

Republicans were frustrated that

Corker spoke out against a Presi-

dent who remains positioned to

sign conservative legislation. “It’s

easy to be bold,” said Represen-

tative Mark Meadows, a North

Carolina Republican and leader

of the far-right Freedom Caucus,

“when you’re not coming back.”

And that’s the real tension here.

House Republicans are jumpy

about next year’s elections, in

which Democrats need to gain just 24 seats to

reclaim a majority. Presidents’ parties have lost

ground in 18 of the last 21 midterm cycles—

seats on average. Holding the Senate has

seemed like a safer bet, but that may be

changing. Stephen Bannon, Trump’s former

chief strategist, is working to draft primary

challenges against incumbent Republicans

in states like Utah, Mississippi and Arizona.

Bannon’s barometer of success is disruption;

he is demanding his recruits pledge to depose

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell.

Which leaves Republicans reluctant

to help the White House. “An attack on

one is an attack on all in the Senate, and

Republican members are absolutely livid,”

says Doug Heye, a Republican strategist and

Capitol Hill veteran. In other words, it’s tough

for anyone—including a President— to cajole

lawmakers into helping if they’re nursing

wounds. □

‘IT’S A

SHAME

THE WHITE

HOUSE HAS

BECOME

AN ADULT

DAY CARE

CENTER.’

BOB

CORKER