Anti-Trump headwinds ruffle Congress
DONALD Trump’s attempt to build bridges in his own party blew up spectacularly on Tuesday as one senator announced he is quitting Congress and another attacked the president for debasing the country.
Senator Jeff Flake assailed Trump in a bombshell 17-minute floor speech warning of a “reckless presidency”, just minutes after Trump made a rare foray to Congress to dine with Republican senators.
Flake’s surprise came hours after a Republican colleague, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, reignited his war of words with Trump, calling him an “utterly untruthful” leader who “debases” the nation.
The extraordinary developments deepened tensions between Trump and his party, increasingly concerned about his coarse and combative style of governing.
Flake, 54, an outspoken critic of Trump-era politics, showed visible emotion as he announced he would not seek re-election.
“The personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms and institutions, the flagrant disregard for truth and decency ... none of these appalling features of our current politics should ever be regarded as normal,” said the Arizona Republican.
“We must stop pretending that the degradation of politics and the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. Reckless, outrageous and undignified behaviour is excused as telling it like it is, when it’s actually just reckless, outrageous and undignified.”
He blasted Trump for his unfettered tweets and attacked colleagues for keeping quiet as “alliances and agreements that ensure the stability of the world are routinely threatened by the level of thought that goes into 140 characters”.
“Politics can make us silent when we should speak and silence can equal complicity,” added the senator. “I will not be complicit or silent.”
Tuesday was going to be a good day for the often-strained relations between Trump and his party.
He had attended the Senate Republican caucus lunch for the first time since his inauguration to press for a unified front for passing a package of tax cuts before year’s end. But the unity unravelled before he even arrived.
The focus swerved instead to a brutal back-and-forth between Trump and Corker, influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair, who urged Trump to stand clear of the tax debate and “leave it to the professionals”. Trump rounded on him in a series of tweets, and the war of words was on. — AFP