Bob Corker and Jeff Flake, the Republican senators publicly feuding with Donald Trump, would be running for re-election in 2018 if the president were "more polite," MSNBC commentator Chuck Todd contended Wednesday, per a report in The Hill.
"If Donald Trump were more polite, would Jeff Flake still be running and would Bob Corker still be running even if he was still a protectionist, even if he was still an isolationist?" Todd said on "Andrea Mitchell Reports."
"And I think the answer is yes, I think they'd both be running."
Flake, of Arizona, on Tuesday delivered a shocking speech on the Senate floor where he blasted Republicans and Trump, saying his party was abandoning "core principles" in favor of "anger and resentment." He announced he would not run in 2018 because it was clear there wasn't room for "a traditional conservative."
Corker, of Tennessee, in late September said he wouldn't seek re-election as he had always been drawn to the idea of a "citizen legislature."
The two lawmakers have both been critical of Trump in the last month, and Trump has hit back with insults and attacks. Corker on Tuesday told CNN: "the debasement of our nation will be what [Trump will] be remembered most for."
Flake in an op-ed for The Washington Post titled, "Enough," wrote: "Nine months of this administration is enough for us to stop pretending that this is somehow normal, and that we are on the verge of some sort of pivot to governing, to stability. Nine months is more than enough for us to say, loudly and clearly: Enough."
Todd said the two open seats could end up in the hands of Democrats.
"Was it a good day for Donald Trump short-term? Yes. What we don't know is it a good day for Donald Trump and his version of the party long-term until we know if its two Trump-like Republicans that replace Corker and Flake," Todd said. "What if Democrats replace Corker and Flake? Then yesterday was a disaster for the Republican Party."
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