Too many feuds for one president

Anger seems to fuel President Trump, and lately, with Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, he’s had the pedal to the metal. In a display not seen in recent times, if ever, Trump has been engaged in utterly vicious commentary over Twitter about the senators. Both are reliably conservative. Corker was a Trump supporter and was said to be under consideration for secretary of state. Flake dared to differ with Trump on occasion, but all organizations that rate senators according to their conservative bona fides count him as an “A” student.

But on the Senate floor, Flake hoped the nation was getting to a “tipping point” on Trump’s reckless behavior and said, in effect directly to the president, “Enough.” He also has announced he’s not running for re-election, and Corker’s also retiring after really blasting Trump in saying he “debases our nation” with constant untruths.

It’s likely both Flake and Corker would have been targeted by Trump’s bully-in-chief, former strategist Steve Bannon, who’s been making the rounds to conservative groups lately out-and-out threatening Republicans who don’t toe the Trump line with being “primaried,” meaning Bannon will find archconservatives more to his liking to run against them as Republicans. Trump, forced to show Bannon the door, apparently the wish of Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly, has made it clear Bannon is a friend, and Bannon sees himself as Trump’s “wing man.”

Corker once was an enthusiastic Trump supporter but has apparently grown weary by the president’s endless outbursts at those who disagree with him even slightly. And Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has a front-row seat at the consequences, real and potential, of having a president without reins. That’s clearly what brought him to a “tipping point” of his own, and the word is out – thanks to a Washington grapevine nurtured by staff members of senators and representatives – that others in Congress have feelings about Trump similar to those of Flake and Corker.

The senators pulled no punches. Flake said Trump had a “flagrant disregard for truth or decency” and cited a “regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms.” Corker, who had once declared his support for Trump when that was not the overwhelming view among establishment Republicans, said he wouldn’t support Trump now.

Those are strong statements indeed from two members of the president’s party, but all Trump tweeted about after a lunch with senators was the fact that he got a “standing ovation.” That is not surprising, since Trump filters almost every appearance, anywhere, through his view of how beloved and admired he is.

This is a president in crisis, and not just because two up-and-coming mainstream Republicans are getting out. Approaching his first anniversary as president, Trump has accomplished virtually nothing except a partial dismantling of anything, including a health care program and foreign policy achievements, associated with President Obama. But even as Trump cheers himself for that (though “Obamacare” is popular with more Americans than ever and critical for millions of people), Republicans are edgy about the upcoming 2018 election. And they’re lukewarm when it comes to Trump’s insistence on a tax cut that will primarily benefit business and the wealthy.

Feuds are distracting and destructive. Ask the Hatfields and McCoys. Ask the American people.

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Too many feuds for one president."