Politics

Trump attacked by own party in latest Twitter feud

Trump has often come under fire for his posts on Twitter.

Another day, another Twitter storm from US president Donald Trump. But this time, he’s not hitting out at fake news or the victims of a natural disaster. He’s railing against members of his own Republican party, and the party is firing back.

It all started last week, when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attempted to negotiate with North Korea, a country that has repeatedly expressed intent to issue a nuclear strike on the US if Trump doesn’t back down. Trump didn’t alleviate any of the growing tension when he began referring to Kim Jong-Un, the country’s leader, as “rocket man”.

Trump publicly denounced Tillerson’s attempts on Twitter, the president’s favoured form of social media. 

“I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” Trump tweeted. “Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done! Being nice to Rocket Man hasn’t worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won’t fail.” [sic]

Choosing not to back his own administration’s attempts at peace negotiations was not something that the Republican party took lightly. Senator Bob Corker, who supported Trump’s presidential campaign and was even a rumoured prospect for the position of vice president, talked to reporters about the incident and indicated that “Tillerson was not getting the support he needed from above” according to SBS. 

Read more: Did Rex Tillerson really call Donald Trump a moron?

“I think Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Mattis and Chief of Staff Kelly are those people that separate our country from chaos, and I support them very much,” Corker told reporters. “I hope they stay because they’re valuable to the national security of our nation.” 

Corker had confirmed in late September that he would not be seeking re-election.

Read more: Donald Trump vows to ‘totally destroy’ North Korea in UN speech

It appears Trump didn’t take kindly to the remarks about his leadership, once again turning to Twitter to vent his anger in a public forum. 

“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 said in his latest Twitter rant. “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!” [sic]

Trump’s Twitter rants have become commonplace during his presidency, but it was Corker’s decision to respond in kind an hour later that had everyone doing a double-take. 

“It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning,” Corker said in a post to his official Twitter account.

Comments came streaming in, some opposing the controversial remark, some saying Corker had only spoken out because he wasn’t running for re-election, and many on Corker’s side. 

“It would be funnier if he wasnt so right in calling the person who has the nuclear codes a child,” [sic] one person wrote. 

Pete Souza, the official photographer of former US president Barack Obama, weighed in on the issue on his Instagram account with an old picture. 

“President Obama talks with Sen. Bob Corker inside The Beast after arriving at an event in Tennessee in 2015. The President often disagreed with the Senator but at least talked to him in person or on the phone,” Souza captioned the image.

What do you think of the exchange? Should Corker have stayed silent? 

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