Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called on Sen. Bob Corker to “resign immediately” after the Tennessee Republican’s blistering attack against President Donald Trump.
“Sen. Corker is an absolute disgrace,” Bannon, who left the White House in August, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “If Bob Corker has any honor, any decency, he should resign immediately. He should not let those words stand.”
Bannon said Corker’s comments were “totally unacceptable in a time of war.”
“We have troops in Afghanistan, in the northwest Pacific and Korea, we have a major problem that could be like World War I, in the South China Sea, in the Persian Gulf, we have American lives at risk every day.”
In an interview with The New York Times on Sunday, Corker said he was concerned Trump’s volatility could lead to “World War III” and said he believed the president had “hurt” the country at times with his online Twitter tirades. Such opinions, the senator continued, were shared by the “vast majority” of congressional Republicans.
“Look, except for a few people, the vast majority of our caucus understands what we’re dealing with here,” Corker said. “Of course they understand the volatility that we’re dealing with and the tremendous amount of work that it takes by people around him to keep him in the middle of the road.”
Bannon ― who continued to heap scorn on Corker, calling him “arrogant” and an “elitist snob” ― said he was continuing to ramp up his so-called war on established GOP politicians.
“We’re going to go after them. There’s a coalition coming together that’s going to challenge every Republican incumbent except for Ted Cruz,” Bannon said Monday night. “We are declaring war on the Republican establishment that does not back the agenda that Donald Trump ran on. We’re going after these guys tooth and nail.”
Trump launched an attack at Corker, a powerful Republican in Congress, earlier Sunday, saying the senator “begged” him for an endorsement, even though he had announced his retirement last September.
Corker shot back just an hour later, saying it was “a shame the White House has become an adult day care center.”
This article has been updated to include additional comments from Bannon’s interview with Hannity.