Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) is only in office for about another year, and it sure looks like he's using his time to frustrate fellow Republicans while helping out President Joe Biden and the Democrats. On Sunday, the senator appeared on NBC News' "Meet the Press," during which he was asked about evidence for an impeachment inquiry against the president.
How he responded was worthy of getting the White House's attention. The Biden-Harris HQ X account also shared a clip of the segment. "As you know, House Republicans have signaled that they may vote as early as this week on an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, despite the fact that they haven't shown, yet, a direct link between Hunter Biden's business dealings and President Biden," host Kristen Welker claimed. "Have you seen any evidence that President Biden has committed high crimes and misdemeanors," she went on to ask.
Although he stammered a bit with his response, Romney claimed he had not. "No. I--I--I don't see any evidence of that at all. I think before you begin an impeachment inquiry, you ought to have some evidence, some inclination that there's been wrongdoing. And so far, there's nothing of that nature that's been provided," he shared.
Q: Have you seen any evidence that President Biden has committed high crimes and misdemeanors?
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) December 10, 2023
Romney: No pic.twitter.com/h8gAFhL5Gh
As The Hill reported, a White House spokesperson sent out an email including a partial transcript and a clip of the segment, touting Romney's opposition to impeachment.
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Romney went on to frame the issue of impeachment as being merely about blaming the president for the sins of his son, Hunter Biden. "President Biden's son, Hunter, has obviously been a very unsavory person and has had some extremely damaged personal foibles, including a drug habit and so forth. That's not President Biden. And we're not going to impeach someone because of the sins of their kids," he offered, as if it were that simple.
That's not quite where House Republicans are going with their impeachment inquiry, though, with a vote being expected this week. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) filed a resolution last week to formalize the inquiry and authorize the House Oversight Committee, House Judiciary Committee, and House Ways and Means Committee to continue with their investigations.
What the evidence points to is that Joe Biden was involved with son Hunter Biden's business dealings, including when vice president. Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, has testified under oath that the now president was "the brand."
While Romney is currently opposed to impeachment, and while that may carry over to Romney having to vote on whether to convict Biden, that wasn't the case when former President Donald Trump was facing impeachment.
The senator was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict Trump in his second impeachment, with the trial not taking place until he had already left office and Biden had been sworn in. Romney also made history when for Trump's first impeachment trial in January of 2020 he became the first senator to vote to convict a president of his own party.
Romney also revealed last month that he would vote for a Democrat over Trump or Vivek Ramswamy if either were to become the Republican nominee.
Speaking of Trump, Romney was also asked about him, including what a second Trump term could look like. The Biden-Harris HQ account shared a clip from that part of the segment as well.
Romney offered that Trump in a second term "would have people around him encouraging his impulses and perhaps adding to them. And I'm afraid you'd –you'd find the nation more divided. Look – look, our nation doesn't need to be divided right now," he continued, as if that wasn't what the Biden administration is doing, which includes going after Trump so close to the 2024 election.
"A--a campaign based on anger and hate may win at the ballot box temporarily, but it tears the country apart. The other day, the president – the former president said that we are at greater threat for what is within. I think that was, in some respects, a self-own, because what's within, if he were to become elected president again, is a campaign of retribution, and anger, and hate," Romney continued. "That's not what America's based on. America was based on the idea of in 'God we trust' and 'united we stand,' divided we fall. Divided nation is not the nation America is intended to be."
Romney: If Trump gets a second term, he would be unrestrained. He would surround himself with people who encourage his impulses. It would be retribution and anger and hate. That’s not what America is based on pic.twitter.com/PXGoxoaBXr
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) December 10, 2023
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