Ex-GOP Sen. Corker: Trump primary would be ‘good thing for our country’

Former Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) on Tuesday said he believes it would be good if President Trump competed against a strong primary challenger for the 2020 Republican nomination. 

“Philosophically, you could look at it and say that it would be a good thing for our country should that occur,” he said Tuesday during the Time 100 Summit, according to the magazine.

{mosads}“If you had a real primary, where you had someone that was really being listened to, and of substance, things that we were talking about — and I could go through a list of them — they would actually be debated in a real way,” he added.

He said that if Trump faced someone weaker, “nobody is going to listen to the debate.”

Corker, who frequently clashed with Trump while serving in the Senate, also accused Trump of purposefully dividing the country. 

“Typically, to unite people, you have to wish to do so, and I think that currently, the president has not found that to his benefit or to his liking,” he said. “Therefore, he purposely seeks to divide.”

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld (R) has already announced that he will jump into the race to compete with Trump for the nomination. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) have been floated as possible challengers.