President Trump on Tuesday claimed The New York Times set up Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) to look like a fool — by recording an interview.
“The Failing @nytimes set Liddle’ Bob Corker up by recording his conversation,” Trump tweeted. “Was made to sound a fool, and that’s what I am dealing with!”
Corker ripped Trump in the interview, suggesting the president was unstable and that his threats to other countries risked putting the U.S. “on the path to World War III.”
{mosads}It’s typical for people to be recorded while giving interviews. Aides to Corker were on the same line when he made the remarks, according to the Times.
“Corker had 2 aides on line, also recording, and they made sure after it ended that I was taping, too,” Times reporter Jonathan Martin tweeted.
Trump’s accusation escalates his feud with Corker, a onetime ally and an influential member of the upper chamber.
The president responded last weekend by claiming Corker had begged him for his endorsement but that he had declined.
Corker shot back, saying the White House had become “an adult day care center.”
The spat could endanger Trump’s effort to pass an overhaul of the tax code. He can only afford to lose two GOP senators, and Corker told the Times that he would not support a plan that blows a hole in the federal budget.
Corker also chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and could have a major say over the future of the Iran nuclear deal, which the president is expected to decertify in the coming days.
Trump often uses name-calling to belittle his foes. He first labeled Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) “Little Marco” during the 2016 GOP presidential primary, and he often uses “Lyin’ Ted” to refer to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), another primary rival.