Manchester, NH - President Trump supporters booed a lot of things at the Southern New Hampshire University Arena in Manchester Monday night, on the eve of the 2020 New Hampshire primary. They heckled any mention of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), open border Democrats, and all the other radical leftist ideas under the sun.
Yet, as soon as the crowd heard the word "Romney" came out of the president's mouth, the boo decibel grew noticeably louder. In fact, I think the enraged reaction to his name came in second only to the word, "socialism."
President Trump: "In the Senate, other than Romney, we had--"
— The Hill (@thehill) February 11, 2020
*Audience boos*
President Trump: "We got 52 to nothing, 52 to nothing." #TrumpRallyNH #TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/zUD2nsu6Lx
The consensus in chatting with folks around the arena was that Romney the RINO was a foregone conclusion, even during his 2012 presidential run. Most of the people I chatted with said they supported him in his bid to beat President Obama. But, after last week's vote to impeach President Trump on abuse of power, he's now a lost cause. They weren't at all surprised to see him officially become a Republican in Name Only.
"I supported Mitt Romney and I remember there was a kiosk outside here on the road it said, 'Mitt Romney’s a RINO,' and I didn’t believe it," Tracy from Boston recalled.
"I voted for Romney, but I think he’s sour grapes," Tracy's friend Sarah, from Bedford, NH, added.
Most of the MAGA folks at Monday's rally concluded that the Utah senator was bitter over his 2012 loss, and he was taking it out on an actual winner.
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"I feel like he should have won the presidency," Sarah said. "He really should have. But I think he wasn’t tough enough. It’s something that eats at him every morning."
"When he ran in 2012, we did support him," said Sabrina from Massachusetts. "But the second debate where he cowered down, we were like what is going on. We kind of gave up at that point. But whatever he’s a flip flopper. We don’t really need him."
Sabrina wasn't the only Trump supporter who remembered Romney's lackluster debate performances.
"I was going to" vote for Romney in 2012, said Kevin from Long Beach, CA. "But when he was doing the debates and Candy was lying and he didn’t stand up for himself, he had no backbone, he’s a wimp. That’s why he goes after Trump because he’s jealous that Trump won and he didn’t."
Kevin, who grew up in Massachusetts, was referencing the moment in the second presidential debate in 2012 on foreign policy when moderator Candy Crowley inserted herself into the discussion to fact check something Romney said about Obama's reaction to the terror attack in Benghazi, Libya. She later admitted that the Republican was actually right after all. But Romney did nothing to correct her at the time.
Others, like teenage voter Matthew from Mystic, Connecticut, sensed a personal bias in Romney's impeachment trial vote.
"Personally I thought it was a political stunt, trying to get more recognized," he said of Romney's vote to impeach the president.
Rocky, a Granite State voter who I found sitting up in the nosebleed section last night, predicted that Romney's vote will cost him his own precious votes.
"I supported him in 2012 because he was the lesser of two evils back then, but I can’t wait to see him lose his seat over that," said Rocky.
"He’s another idiot," said Kevin. "He’s a Republican in name only. He’s a RINO."
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