WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Republican concerns about President Trump (all times EDT):
10 p.m.
Sen. Bob Corker is hardly the only Republican lawmaker raising dark concerns about harm President Donald Trump might cause the U.S. and the world. But he’s one of the few willing to air those worries in public.
Most GOP senators were silent Monday, a day after Corker charged that the White House was an “adult day care” and Trump could set the nation “on the path to World War III.”
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley says both Trump and Corker should “cool it.”
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6 p.m.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley is wagging a finger at his tweet-feuding Senate colleague Bob Corker and President Donald Trump, but calling out Trump to set the tone.
Grassley was asked if the personal exchange between Corker of Tennessee and Trump was good for Republicans. He says, “I don’t see how it’s productive.”
“I think that two words would kind of answer your question from my point of view: Cool it,” Grassley said. “And I think it would help if the president would be the first to cool it.”
Trump and Corker went at it on Twitter Sunday, with Trump saying the retiring Corker “didn’t have the guts” to run for a third term. Corker responded by saying, “it’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center.”
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5 p.m.
Sen. Bob Corker is hardly the only Republican lambasting Donald Trump and raising dark concerns about harm the president might cause the U.S. and the world.
He’s just the only one who’s sounding off in public.
When Corker charged that Trump could set the nation “on the path to World War III,” he gave voice to concerns that circulate widely on Capitol Hill about an unpredictable president whose tendency to personalize every issue creates risks for the nation.
But Trump’s enduring popularity with a segment of the GOP base serves as a political muzzle that keeps most elected Republicans from saying anything similar, even those who believe it to be true.
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