President Trump early Wednesday slammed Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.), saying that, except for the two retiring GOP senators, his meeting on Capitol Hill was a “love fest.”
“The reason Flake and Corker dropped out of the Senate race is very simple, they had zero chance of being elected,” Trump tweeted. “Now act so hurt & wounded!”
“The meeting with Republican Senators yesterday, outside of Flake and Corker, was a love fest with standing ovations and great ideas for USA!” the president added in a subsequent tweet.
The tweets come one day after Trump traveled to Capitol Hill to attend a weekly policy luncheon with Senate Republicans.
Trump made a similar claim about his reception at the event on Tuesday, when he said he received “multiple standing ovations” from GOP senators at the gathering.
“So nice being with Republican Senators today. Multiple standing ovations! Most are great people who want big Tax Cuts and success for U.S.,” he tweeted.
{mosads}Various senators did offer positive commentary on the highly anticipated Capitol Hill meeting.
“I’m really glad that the president came,” said Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), who sat with Trump.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) described the atmosphere of the room as “lighthearted” and “cordial.”
“I would say he spent most of his time talking about the importance of tax reform, and we talked about the importance of his nominations as well, but it was very cordial, he was very well received,” Kennedy said.
The president’s tweets also come after Corker and Flake on Tuesday pushed their criticism of Trump to new levels.
Flake, who has been one of the most vocal Republican Trump critics in the Senate, issued a stunning rebuke of the president on the Senate floor, saying Trump’s behavior in office has been “reckless, outrageous and undignified” but his party has “excused” it.
“Without fear of the consequences and without consideration of the rules of what is politically safe or palatable, we must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal,” Flake said. “Silence can equal complicity.”
Corker also continued his criticism of the president on Tuesday, predicting that Trump would be remembered in the history books for “debasing” his country.
Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, added that world leaders believe that what the president says is often untrue.
–This report was updated at 7:57 a.m.