This on the same day that another republican senator, this one named bob corker goes after the president again and again and again. His motto is to divide and to attempt to bully and to use untruths. Two socalled Establishment Republicans basically saying, ive had it with the president , and i cant do this anymore. If i have been critical, it is because i believe it is my obligation to do so. And as a matter and duty of conscience. You would think he would aspire to be the president of the United States and act like a president of the United States. And the winner in all of this could be President Trump, who now is sure to be rid of two republicans who were sharply critical of his campaign and his presidency. Did we just see the trump wing of the Republican Party triumph in the first fight in this republican civil war . When he gets hit, hes going to hit back. This is mtp daily, and it starts right now. Well, in a congressional year of impossibles, we have seen the improbable is it the
character? and i say this because the republican party, right now it s the democrats going, character? how come it doesn t count? and i m old enough to remember bob dole in 1996 when he was complaining, how come character he thought bill clinton had a character problem. and the fact is he did. but the voters, they made a decision and went another direction and the voters made it. it is not like donald trump hid his character. they made a decision. are we collectively overrating character? what i think is significant is that people like corker and flake and others are stepping forward to remind why character matters. it is regrettable these are people walking out the door. we re not just a collection of policy positions. we re pro tax cuts and pro free trade. we are also human beings trying to stand up and adhere to some ideals. i think senator flake mentioned, and corker did.
beth, what do you make of today? here s my big takeaway among there are so many takeaways from this entire day. senator flake said to you he is leaving he is a republican who believe this is the free markets n small government, free trade, and immigration. all of those things summarily rejected by republican voters. senator flake and these establishment republicans think they are presiding over a party of ideas that are not shared by their voters, 100% not shared. free trade makes people think about lost jobs. smaller government, losing health care, entitlements. free market, that s what killed the jobs in 2009 and plunged us into recession. that is not where the republican voters are. yes you have made this a discussion about character which it certainly is on behalf of the president. but it s also a discussion of where the republican party, it is a not where senator flake or corker is. on the show on sunday, our data download was about how boy,
where trump overperformed it delivered him more votes than in the so-called establishment republican counties. that is beth s point here, are the people speaking? i think it s something the republican party hasn t reckoned with. and it s something that we at this table never seem to touch on, which is he got elected. okay. if want to do something about the republican party you have got to figure out why he got elected and you have got to answer that mail. while i empathize with matter in flake and senator corker and i admire their eloquence and courage in speaking out against someone in their party i don t know how this is a blow in the fight to take back the republican party. calling donald trump a creep does not wrest back the soul of the republican party. donald trump won today? is that the conclusion? if we are looking at a total and binary choice here. we have been saying there is a fight for soul of the republican
comprised of a bunch of allies who are trying to move us in a better direction for united states and who appreciate the president s leadership. so does the president s character because this is what is obviously the issue for senators flake and corker. does his character bother you? does it bother you the way the president conducts himself in office? this is not about policy positions. i think it s pretty clear this is about character. well, okay, you have characterized their statements as dealing with the president s character. i wouldn t do that. again, i m at a disadvantage because i didn t i haven t read the book. i have only read excerpts of it. and i don t know what the speech today said. but i think most of us in the conference are very comfortable with the direction that this chief executive of our nation and this head of our party wants to take us. we need to tackle tax reform.