Trump Tweets Corker's Criticism Is 'Strange,' Claims 'Tennessee Not Happy'

WASHINGTON, DC — It took a week, but President Donald Trump finally tweeted a response Friday to Sen. Bob Corker's criticism of his competence and stability. The president was less pugnacious toward the Tennessee Republican than he has been toward other GOP critics, like Arizona Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain, but nonetheless, the tweet could be a signal the relationship between Trump and Corker is cooling.

"Strange statement by Bob Corker considering that he is constantly asking me whether or not he should run again in '18," Trump tweeted. "Tennessee not happy!"

The tweet comes after press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to comment Thursday on Corker's criticism, saying, “That’s a ridiculous and outrageous claim and doesn’t dignify a response from this podium." (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

At an Aug. 17 Rotary Club meeting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters Trump "has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful" and suggested the president did not understand the character of the country. He reiterated those criticisms following a veterans' breakfast Aug. 18 in Nashville, urging the president to stop "seeking to further divide our nation in order to stimulate your base, energize your base."

Corker, who said he speaks frequently and "warmly" with the president, was regarded as one of Trump's top Senate allies and was "in the mix" to be nominated as secretary of State.

As for the 2018 plans alluded to in the president's tweet, Corker repeatedly insists he's yet to decide if he'll seek a third term in 2018. Some political observers suspected he might run to succeed term-limited Gov. Bill Haslam, though with a crowded Republican field, he would need to make that decision soon.

And is it true "Tennessee not happy!"? A July poll placed Corker's approval rating at 52 percent with disapproval at 29 percent. Corker was at 57/26 in April.

Interestingly, the president's tweeted response came a day after former State Rep. Joe Carr, an ardent Trump backer who lost to Lamar Alexander in the 2014 GOP primary, told The Tennessean he is considering a primary challenge to Corker.

Corker's office has not yet responded to a request for comment.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File