GOP Sen. Bob Corker Defends His Praise of Democratic Candidate to Replace Him

GOP Sen. Bob Corker Defends His Praise of Democratic Candidate to Replace Him
The outgoing senator offered a decidedly unenthusiastic endorsement of the Republican nominee—and he didn’t even mention her by name.
Andrew Desiderio
04.22.18 12:03 PM ET


Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) on Sunday defended himself against criticism over his praise of the Democratic candidate seeking to replace him in the U.S. Senate, while at the same time offering an unenthusiastic endorsement of the Republican nominee.

The senator, who is not running for re-election, accused GOP leaders of leaking the details of a conversation during which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reportedly rebuked him for speaking positively of former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, the Democratic nominee for Corker's soon-to-be-vacated seat, at a breakfast with reporters last week.

“It’s hard to believe that the leadership of the senatorial committee on the Republican side would even leak that story out to The Washington Post and cause you to ask me about it,” Corker said on CNN’s State of the Union, referring to the Post’s Thursday report detailing the discussion between McConnell and Corker.

McConnell was angry with Corker for calling Bredesen “a very good mayor, a very good governor, a very good business person.” The majority leader reportedly told Corker that those remarks were unhelpful for the GOP’s chances of retaining control of the chamber.

Corker has said that he wouldn’t campaign against Bredesen because he is a friend. But he has thus far declined to publicly praise Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), the outspoken Trump booster who is running against Bredesen, in a similar way. While Corker has said he would vote for Blackburn and has donated the maximum amount to her campaign, he offered an unenthusiastic endorsement of the congresswoman.

During appearances on both CNN and ABC, Corker declined to even mention her name, referring to her as “the nominee” and “this person.” When asked why Blackburn would be a better replacement, Corker did not praise her candidacy and instead argued that her election to fill his seat would help Republicans maintain their majority in the Senate.

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