While former senator Bob Corker attempted to stay apolitical during his time at the Thursday afternoon Rotary Club, he could not avoid political questions entirely. With his at-times contentious relationship with President Donald Trump well-publicized, questions about his possible impeachment were inevitable.
“I put myself in the category of former senator, and as you know, the Senate is the jury in an impeachment,” said Mr. Corker, “And I would just say my friends on both sides of the aisle, that I would absolutely say nothing. Nothing.”
The former senator took a moment to explain what an impeachment is, giving context to why he did not wish to comment on the proceedings.
“You know, an impeachment is a process by which Congress decides to undo what the electoral college has done before, and it’s a major undertaking. And once you begin that process and you begin pulling threads, you have no idea where it’s going to go,” said the speaker, “And I’m just going to say to all of my friends in the senate, and I’m going to use the same advice myself, it’s just not appropriate in my opinion for senators to be making statements at this juncture. And I can assure you that I have nothing I want to say.”
He was then asked about whether or not he believed President Trump had acted in an inappropriate way. Mr. Corker was diplomatic but still refused to give an opinion on the matter, lest his words be taken out of context.
“There’s a lot I could say to give color to that question, but if I say it and only part of it gets written or shown, it’s going to indicate that somehow I’m on one side or the other. And it’s just such a serious thing in our country to have an impeachment process that’s underway,” said Mr. Corker, “ I’m sorry to be boring, but I just think it’s just that people who are in the role that I was in and people like me, who have been in that role, need to be patient and see where it takes us.”
Former Senator Corker also declined to give any sort of advice to President Trump, choosing to remain quiet and observational in all aspects of the impeachment. He did reiterate that impeachment was a political maneuver, and not a legal one.
“I would just observe. A lot of times, what happens in these processes is that sometimes the defining element becomes how you react and what happens within your administration while an inquiry is taking place. An impeachment is a political thing, it’s not a legal (thing),” said Mr. Corker, “There’s not a legal bar (that has to be cleared), right, it’s political. And if you go back and look at the Federalist Papers that were written at the time of our country’s beginning and evolution, you’ll see it’s a political process.”
As he so briefly mentioned during his speech to the Rotarians only a few minutes prior, Mr. Corker reaffirmed his statement regarding the current state of the Republican and Democrat parties.
“Both parties are remarkably different. It speaks to the changes that are taking place in our country, it speaks to the unease that many Americans feel in life. But they are dramatically different,” said Mr. Corker, who then opined about the possible future of politics in America, “I think a lot of these changes will right themselves over time, and I hope that’s the case. Whether it’s on one side becoming more protectionist or isolationist, or the other side reconfiguring our economy overnight, hopefully in the future, which won’t happen overnight, there will be a desire to bring our country together around a change that moves us all in the same direction and makes our country stronger. It’s just not where our country is today.”