What a hard fall, folks. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) is voting to convict President Donald Trump on one of the articles of impeachment lobbed against him by Democrats. Is Romney doing this out of revenge for Trump trashing him? Is he playing that long game, hoping to make another run in 2024? I don’t know. I don’t care. No one should. Romney just signed his political epitaph. He betrayed the GOP. And enough with the ‘principles before party’ argument. That’s garbage. There was nothing principled about the Democratic push to impeach Trump. It was a hyper-partisan witch-hunt based on shoddy evidence, and Mitt Romney has joined their cause (via Axios):
NEW: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) to vote to convict Pres. Trump, breaking from party; "The president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust. What he did was not perfect. No. It was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security and our fundamental values." pic.twitter.com/ncTGHz7RpX
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) February 5, 2020
Republican Senator Mitt Romney on his plans to vote to convict Trump: 'Corrupting an election to keep one's self in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one's oath of office that I can imagine' https://t.co/4chyyLDLgu pic.twitter.com/Lhnxvz19fh
— Reuters Politics (@ReutersPolitics) February 5, 2020
.@MittRomney: "the president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust."
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 5, 2020
.@MittRomney: "What the president did was wrong. Grievously wrong."
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 5, 2020
.@MittRomney is a disgrace. A pathetic disgrace.
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) February 5, 2020
He will vote to convict
“My faith is at the heart of who I am,” Romney says, choking up for several seconds. He says it’s the hardest decision he’s made
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 5, 2020
“My faith is at the heart of who I am,” Romney says, choking up for several seconds. He says it’s the hardest decision he’s made
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 5, 2020
I’m old enough to remember when Mitt Romney once described himself as “severely conservative."
— Josh Hammer (@josh_hammer) February 5, 2020
Romney lied about being a Republican
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) February 5, 2020
After 2 weeks, it’s clear that Democrats have no case for impeachment. Sadly, my colleague @SenatorRomney wants to appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander the @realDonaldTrump during their 15 minutes of fame. The circus is over. It’s time to move on! #gapol
— Senator Kelly Loeffler (@SenatorLoeffler) January 27, 2020
Mitt Romney is bitter.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) February 5, 2020
Bitter he didn't win in 2012.
Bitter @realDonaldTrump didn't pick him to be Sec of State.
Bitter President Trump is more popular than he is in Utah.
And Mitt's announcement was ALL ABOUT HIM.
Romney did a pretaped sitdown interview with Chris Wallace.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) will vote to convict President Trump for abuse of power in the Senate impeachment trial.
Why it matters: Romney is the only Republican senator to break ranks and vote to remove Trump from office, though the president is still expected to be acquitted later today.
Romney was Democrats last chance for a bipartisan conviction vote, after Sen. Susan Collins (R-Utah) announced earlier Tuesday that she will vote to acquit the president.
Romney and Collins were the only two Republican senators that voted last week to allow witnesses and documents in the trial — a call that otherwise failed along party lines.
So, it would seem that the American Conservative Union did well in not inviting this clown to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Why he thinks he can survive by catering to Democrats and what’s left of the Never Trump GOP wing is beyond me. One side isn’t your friend. The other is starving for relevancy. This is Trump’s party. Period. And it’s an election year. Get in line or get out of the way. So much for the “severely conservative” Mitt Romney. He’s been taken over by the pod people.
Can Utah recall Mitt Romney? They’re thinking about it (via Fox News):
Republican Utah state Rep. Tim Quinn has introduced a bill in that state's legislature that would allow voters to recall U.S. senators -- a possible swipe at Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, despite Quinn saying the bill isn't targeted at anyone in particular.
First reported by Deseret News, the bill would create a process by which a recall vote could go on the ballot after a petition by voters.
“I know that’s what’s going to be the narrative,” Quinn told the Deseret News when asked if the bill was aimed at Romney, the sitting GOP senator whose current term doesn't expire until 2025. “If it were, then it might make sense to have a sunset on it. That would not be the case.”
Full disclosure: I voted for Mitt Romney in 2012. He was the best person to beat Obama at the time. He was the GOP nominee. And now he screwed us royally. He deserves to be primaried and thrown into the trash. We need people who will be on the team that will keep the Great American Comeback going. And Mitt Romney decided to switch sides. So long, Benedict Romney.