The "genius" of Donald Trump is that he's tapped into the same economic and societal frustrations as those of a majority of voters in Great Britain who decided to exit the European Union, according to Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker.
In an interview aired Sunday on CNN's
"State of the Union," the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said "in the Brexit vote… almost the entire establishment in the [United Kingdom] was in the 'remain' camp."
"There's something happening in our society, it's happening in Western societies where there's tremendous anxiety over economic stagnation, the whole issue of refugees, and immigration that's changing the context of countries," he said, decrying the "faceless bureaucracy that's not really responding to people."
"So the genius of what's happened with the candidacy of Donald Trump is, he has given voice to that just as was given in the U.K.," he declared. "The question is, can you take that and do something that's very, very constructive for our country… can we take this moment and shape it into something that is great for the American people."
He also defended
Trump's Scotland press conference at which the GOP presumptive presidential nominee noted the crashing British pound would help his golf business.
"I didn't take it that — he was giving an example, which is obvious, that when the currency fluctuates, as it does, more Americans are going to be able to travel to the U.K. more cheaply," he said. "I thought it was just demonstrating an anecdotal statement relative to its effects."
"Here he was, as a business person, an outsider, he happened to be in the country right after the Brexit vote had taken place, supporting his children, demonstrating that he was an outsider," he added.