Republican blasts Trump’s ‘pettiness and insecurity’ for mocking ousted Congressman to his face

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A Republican Congressman blasted Donald Trump’s “pettiness and insecurity” after the president again mocked an ousted Republican whom he had opposed in a recent election.

During a closed-door meeting with House Republicans Mr Trump was said to have openly derided Mark Sanford as a “nasty guy”. The South Carolina Republican recently lost a primary to a farther-right challenger after a campaign that turned on Mr Sanford’s public criticism of the president.

After Mr Trump referenced the dressing down, tweeting that members “applauded and laughed loudly” when he mentioned Mr Sanford - adding “I have never been a fan of his!” - Michigan Republican Justin Amash fired back.

“Nobody applauded or laughed. People were disgusted,” Mr Amash wrote on Twitter, accusing the president of a “dazzling display of pettiness and insecurity”.

Voters last week rejected Mr Sanford and instead made their Republican nominee Katie Arrington, a state representative who campaigned on her fealty to Mr Trump and cut campaign ads splicing together Mr Sanford’s harsh words for the president.

Mr Trump weighed in at the eleventh hour with a tweet urging voters to choose Mr Arrington over Mr Sanford, whom he branded “very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA” - an acronym for Mr Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

After voters made clear that allegiance to the president has become a central dynamic in Republican politics, Sen Bob Corker of Tennessee - one of the few elected Republicans willing to openly excoriate Mr President - warned of the “cultish” atmosphere around the president.

“It’s not a good place for any party to end up with a cult-like situation as it relates to a president that happens to be purportedly of the same party,” Mr Corker told reporters.

Despite representing the Republican Party as its highest-ranking elected official, Mr Trump has shown no qualms about assailing fellow Republicans who challenge him - including Mr Corker, whom he has jeeringly referred to as “Liddle Bob”.