NASHVILLE - Breaking with Tennessee's current elected Republican leaders, former U.S. Sen. Bob Corker on Tuesday congratulated Democrat Joe Biden on winning his presidential race against President Donald Trump.
"I congratulate President-elect Biden and wish him well as he organizes to lead our country," tweeted Corker, a former Chattanooga mayor who served two terms in the Senate and rose to Foreign Relations Committee chair before falling out with President Donald Trump and later deciding not to seek reelection in 2018.
Corker added that "after 2016 and 2020, surely our country can improve our election system where results are beyond question - and beyond demagoguery from either side of the aisle."
His comments came as Trump and Republican leaders continue to attack the Nov. 3 results in close contests in states, including the pivotal state of Pennsylvania, which major television and cable networks as well as The Associated Press have projected that Biden won.
Both U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, and U.S. Sen.-elect Bill Hagerty have urged Republicans to financially support the president in his legal efforts to challenge votes in states including Pennsylvania and Georgia.
The former senator, who at one point in 2016 was said to be under consideration by Trump as his running mate, later had an increasingly tumultuous relationship with Trump after Corker criticized the president during a Chattanooga Rotary Club appearance in August 2017. The then-senator said the president had not demonstrated the competence to be successful after Trump's ambivalent remarks about white supremacists after deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia.
"He recently has not demonstrated that he understands the character of our nation - what has made it great and what it is today," Corker said.
A week later, Trump called Corker's comment "strange" in a tweet, stating Corker had sought his support for re-election. Corker, who announced he wouldn't seek a third term in September 2017, said Trump had asked him to run again.
As their relationship continued to fall to pieces, Trump later charged Corker had wanted to be named Secretary of State and that Corker had "begged" for his support for re-election, which Corker dismissed.
The senator again criticized Trump by suggesting that Trump's then-Chief of Staff John Kelly and then-Defense Secretary James Mattis, both retired generals, and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are the "people that help separate our country from chaos."
"It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center," Corker wrote. "Someone obviously missed their shift this morning."
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow on Twitter @AndySher1.