Article snippet: WASHINGTON — Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, responded to President Trump’s tweets on Sunday in a phone interview with Jonathan Martin, a Times political reporter. Following are excerpts from their exchange, as transcribed by The New York Times, which have been lightly edited for clarity. Click here for more coverage of Mr. Corker’s remarks and his relationship with the president. ___________ Senator Bob CORKER: Hey Jonathan, how are you, sir? Jonathan MARTIN: Senator, I didn’t know you could handle a blade that well. CORKER: Well, we’ll see what happens. We know that we will see some tough times but it was the right thing to do. MARTIN: Yeah I hear you, I hear you. CORKER: So have at it. I understand we’re on the record. I don’t like normally talking to you on the record — I’m kidding you — but I will. (Laughter) MARTIN: So now that you’re a liberated free man who’s become like an instant Twitter sensation, I figured that it was now your obligation to step out of the shadows here and talk on the record. But in all seriousness, it wasn’t just the tweet. I mean, I heard you in the Capitol this week say what you did twice about Secretary Tillerson, first upstairs then downstairs when the cameras were running which of course is what prompted all of this. I also know for a fact that you purposefully said what you did during the recess back in August about the president after Charlottesville — CORKER: Yeah MARTIN: Which is all to say this is not an acci... Link to the full article to read more