Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) had a testy exchange in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday as he refused to say whether he would have confidence in GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump as a commander in chief.
Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, repeatedly said he didn’t want to be a referee or judge in the presidential race.
{mosads}“I didn’t come on the program to talk about politics. You asked me to come on to talk about public policy,” Corker said at one point in the interview with co-host Mika Brzezinski.
At one point, Brzezinski remarked, “It seems like you don’t feel comfortable talking about Donald Trump.”
“Well I don’t feel comfortable coming on a program and being sort of a judger, if you will, of the two,” Corker said.
Corker was once on Trump’s vice presidential shortlist but withdrew from consideration in July. He and other congressional Republicans have often been wary of being portrayed as too close to Trump, who has repeatedly been criticized by GOP leaders for some of his statements.
On Wednesday, Corker said that neither Trump nor Clinton’s campaigns have “laid out much of anything that is specific” on jobs, the economy, reforming entitlements and debt.
“I’m sorry?” Brzezinski interjected as Corker turned to blasting the Obama administration.
“I’m sorry, Mika,” Corker shot back.
“That’s not an answer,” Brzezinski continued, saying she wanted to be respectful but reiterating her question on whether the GOP lawmaker has confidence in the party’s nominee as commander in chief. “That’s pretty much a yes-no question,” she said.
Corker said Trump is “deepening in what he’s throwing out” and “shaking up the foreign policy establishment.”
“Mika, I have a job to do here, and it’s not to be the referee on a presidential campaign,” Corker said. “You get up everyday and this may be the only thing you think about.”
“No, no, no, it would just mean a lot to me,” Brzezinski responded. “Bob, it would mean a lot to me if you had confidence [in Trump].”