NASHVILLE - Two of Tennessee's top Republicans, U.S. Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander, parted ways with President Donald Trump on Monday after the president appeared to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin's statements that he didn't meddle in the 2016 U.S. election despite assertions by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia did.
Saying he was "disappointed and saddened" that Trump would equate statements of the intelligence community with Putin during the two leaders' joint Helsinki news conference earlier in the day, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Corker told Washington-based reporters that "I just felt like the president's comments made us look as a nation more like a pushover, and I was disappointed in that."
The Chattanoogan also noted "I did not think this was a good moment for our country."
Alexander said in a statement "there is no doubt that Russia interfered in our 2016 presidential election. On July 3, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a bipartisan report that agreed with the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in our 2016 presidential election."
He noted that just last week, the Trump administration's own Justice Department indicted 12 Russian military intelligence agents "for interfering in our 2016 presidential election.
"This makes it even more important that the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence investigation and the Mueller investigation continue until they are complete," Alexander said. "Congress can then decide what to do about both."
The president's remarks quickly made their way into the Tennessee U.S. Senate race to replace Corker, who has been outspoken in his criticisms of a number of Trump's foreign policy moves.
"Russia is an adversary and our intelligence agencies concluded that they meddled in the 2016 election," reads a statement from U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who is running for the GOP Senate nomination. "From their annexation of Crimea to their involvement in Syria, Russian aggression has been escalating for several years."
Blackburn said U.S. foreign policy "must be shaped around these facts, which are incontrovertible. Russia is a bad actor and we must treat them as such. They have been focused on our demise for decades."
Her expected Democratic opponent in the Nov. 6 U.S. Senate election, former Gov. Phil Bredesen, said in a statement that "as an American, I have to say I believe our own defense and intelligence agencies much more than the President of Russia."
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis, another Tennessee Democrat who is frequently critical of Trump, weighed in with a new blast.
"Trump's submissive posturing to Putin is an insult to every American and especially the men and women of the Armed Services and the FBI whose job is to preserve our American values," Cohen said in a statement. "It is unprecedented. It is appalling. It is incomprehensible. Former CIA Director John Brennan called the Helsinki performance 'nothing short of treasonous.'"
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.