Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay told Newsmax TV on Thursday that he was "shocked but not surprised" at comments from Republican Sens. Bob Corker and Tim Scott slamming President Donald Trump for his Charlottesville comments.
"This is a very unusual time that we're in," DeLay, 70, the former Texas Republican who was speaker from 2003 to 2005, told host Bill Tucker on "Newsmax Now" in an interview.
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"First of all, this president beat all those that you just named as the establishment," he explained. "And because none of them supported Donald Trump in the last election — so their support was probably tepid at best going into this year and going into his term."
DeLay then pointed to Trump's falling poll numbers.
"When your numbers get down in the 30 percent approval rating, politicians will run for the hills," he told Tucker. "People of principles will stick with you if you're doing the right thing."
DeLay added: "That dynamic that's boiling in the Congress especially is something unusual that I haven't seen before.
"And people particularly don't like Trump, people don't want to support him — and they're going to cover their political behinds when it comes to dealing with Trump.
"That's what's going on."
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