White House says stability concerns are ‘outrageous’:

The White House said Thursday that a Republican senator’s critique that President Donald Trump has not demonstrated the ‘stability’ it takes to be a successful leader is ‘ridiculous and outrageous.’   

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the the assault on Trump by Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker ‘doesn’t dignify a response from this podium,’ batting down the Republican lawmaker’s suggestion that Trump is mentally unfit for office.

Democrats have intermittently raised the topic, but Corker, who Trump considered last summer for vice president, was the first Republican leader to call Trump’s mental competence into question.

The White House said Thursday that Republican Sen. Bob Corker’s critique that President Donald Trump has not demonstrated the ‘stability’ it takes to be a successful leader is ‘ridiculous and outrageous’

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the the assault on Trump by Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker 'doesn't dignify a response from this podium,' batting down the suggestion that Trump is mentally unfit for office

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the the assault on Trump by Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker ‘doesn’t dignify a response from this podium,’ batting down the suggestion that Trump is mentally unfit for office

Democrats have intermittently raised the topic, but Corker, who Trump considered last summer for vice president, was the first high-ranking Republican to call Trump's mental competence into question

Democrats have intermittently raised the topic, but Corker, who Trump considered last summer for vice president, was the first high-ranking Republican to call Trump’s mental competence into question

His comments were echoed by former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Clapper wondered after Trump’s comments Tuesday night in Arizona whether the sitting president should have unfettered access to the nation’s nuclear codes. 

He directly mentioned Trump’s ‘fitness to be in this office’ in comments on CNN. 

‘I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it,’ Clapper said in an interview with Don Lemon.

Huckabee Sanders was facing reporters for the first time on camera since the president began his working vacation three weeks ago when she took questions from behind the White House podium on Thursday afternoon.

Twice this week she had held what’s known as a gaggle on Air Force One while Trump was traveling from Washington to Arizona and Nevada back to Washington. Those are not taped and are accessible only to reporters traveling that day with the president.

She had not held a televised briefing since Corker’s comments a week ago or Clapper’s statements after the Tuesday rally. 

Asked what her response to Corker’s assessment was, Huckabee Sanders said: ‘I think that’s a ridiculous and outrageous claim and doesn’t dignify a response from this podium.’

Corker told reporters Thursday in measured remarks that Trump ‘has not demonstrated that he understands what has made this nation great.’

‘The President has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful,’ Corker said.  

Former CIA director Panetta danced around the question on Thursday after Huckabee Sanders’ briefing, eventually telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that ‘those are real’ concerns as he noted that many people have wondered whether Trump understands what it takes to govern.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk