Exclusive: Cornyn says Trump missed 'opportunity' to unite after Charlottesville melee

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 12: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) asks a question during the confirmation hearing for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for the director of the CIA, Rep.Ã©Mike Pompeo (R-KS) before the Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee on January 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. Mr. Pompeo is a former Army officer who graduated first in his class from West Point. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) less WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 12: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) asks a question during the confirmation hearing for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for the director of the CIA, Rep.Ã©Mike Pompeo (R-KS) ... more Photo: Joe Raedle, Staff Photo: Joe Raedle, Staff Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close Exclusive: Cornyn says Trump missed 'opportunity' to unite after Charlottesville melee 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

WASHINGTON – Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the second-most powerful Republican in the Senate, added his voice Friday to a chorus of top party and business leaders breaking from President Donald Trump over his handling of the white supremacist violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Va.

"We've all been shocked that the unhealed wounds of the nation's racial divide flared up in such a surprising and disturbing way," Cornyn said in a Chronicle interview. "I think the president had an opportunity to send a message that would unite America behind our common resolve to heal those wounds and unite our country, and unfortunately I don't think he did that."

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Cornyn's remarks on the controversy were his first since last weekend when he took to Twitter to condemn the violence: "No place for the bigotry & hate-filled violence in #Charlottesville. These actions should be condemned in the strongest possible terms."

They also came as Trump parted ways with White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, the former Breitbart executive believed responsible for much of the president's nationalist rhetoric.

Cornyn had gone to Twitter earlier in the week to defend Majority Leader Mitch McConnell against a barrage of criticism from White House over the Senate's failure to pass legislation repealing Obamcare.

But Cornyn's remarks on Friday – after returning from a congressional delegation trip to the Balkans – were his first to address Trump's ambiguous response to the melee in Virginia that left one counter-protester dead and scores of others injured.

"Sometimes, when you try to have it both ways, you satisfy people on neither side, and I think that's what he did," Cornyn said.

Cornyn's comments came a day after Tennessee U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said that Trump "has not demonstrated he understands the character of this nation."

Corker had also told reporters in Chattanooga that Trump "has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful."

The comments by Cornyn and Corker followed the criticism of several other Republican senators, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona, who both received return fire from Trump.

Other high-profile Republicans, including Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, have issued statements condemning racism and bigotry, though without faulting Trump.

But while Cornyn said Trump had missed an "opportunity" to send a message of unity, he stopped short of echoing Corker's challenge to Trump's stability and competence.

"I don't think it's useful to criticize the president," Cornyn said. "My goal is to try to help the president succeed and to help the country succeed in the process."

The Texas Republican acknowledged, however, that the continuing controversy has not helped president's agenda in Congress, where Republicans are trying to build momentum for an overhaul of the U.S. tax code by the end of the year.

"It certainly doesn't make things easier," said Cornyn, the Republican Whip. "It takes a lot focus and teamwork and unity to be able to get things done in the Congress... All of this distracts us from the president's attempt to try to do things that he ran on, and that by and large he has support for, certainly among Republicans."

Cornyn also lamented the growing friction between Trump and top Republicans in Congress. "What the president is missing is that when get gets into a fight with the very people he's depending on to get his legislative agenda passed, it's not constructive. It's the opposite."