Two Republican senators fiercely attacked President Donald Trump today, accusing their fellow Republican of debasing US politics and the country's standing abroad in extraordinary public criticisms of a sitting president.

Senator Jeff Flake, in a dramatic speech on the Senate floor, said American politics had become “inured” to "reckless, outrageous and undignified” behavior from the White House.

"The instinct to scapegoat and belittle threatens to turn us into a fearful, backward-looking people," said Flake, who announced he would not run for re-election next year.

Senator Bob Corker, who has also said previously he is not running for re-election, earlier called Trump a liar who has damaged the country’s standing in the world, eviscerating the president with comments that stirred deepening divisions in the Republican Party.

“The president has great difficulty with the truth on many issues,” Corker told CNN.

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