Republican Senator admits Donald Trump and his White House are in “Downward Spiral”

| 9:30 pm EDT May 15, 2017
Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.

Now that Donald Trump has been caught giving highly classified intel to the Russians during a White House meeting, Americans await the reactions of Trump’s own Republican Party in Congress. Even as we wait to see whether any House Republicans find enough of a spine to begin impeachment hearings, one prominent Senate Republican is acknowledging that Trump and his White House are out of control.

Republican Senator Bob Corker has been in office long enough to have become the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Here are his two key quotes this evening, in the wake of Trump’s latest Russia bombshell: “The White House has got to do something soon to bring itself under control and in order” and “They’re in a downward spiral right now” (link). While there have been GOP Senators who have criticized specific incidents or aspects of the behavior of Trump and his White House, this might represent the first instance in which one of them is flat out acknowledging that the White House is spiraling out of control in general. And that may prove significant.

Because he’s in the Senate, Bob Corker is in the position of not having to make any decision on whether or not to begin impeachment hearings against Donald Trump, which would originate in the House instead. The Senate would only proceed with an impeachment trial once the House finished its hearings. So it’s easier for Corker to take a verbal stand like this right now.

The key for now is to watch whether any House Republicans end up doing the same – because they would then be called on by the public to make good on their word by voting for impeachment hearings. But at the least, by being the first Congressional Republican to publicly acknowledge that Donald Trump and his White House are out of control, may have given some cover for his House Republican colleagues to do the same.