OPINION:
Utah Senator Mitt Romney (R) is getting praise lately, from all the wrong people. Wrong at least, if you’re a Republican and still consider Romney to be one as well. This isn’t a surprise for Mitt, as he is a well-known loather of President Trump and most likely his populist agenda to boot. But Romney did something recently that probably made it much harder for him to ever have a chance to regain favor with President Trump if he ever needs to, and possibly even the broader more moderate Republican party as a whole.
Yes, Republican Mitt Romney, the man many Republicans supported and voted for president against former President Barack Obama in 2012, voted to convict President Trump on one article of impeachment this week. Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA), had begged for just one Republican Senator, (if nor more) to buck the trend and make it a bipartisan conviction Senate vote, despite the ultimate landslide acquittal. Schiff got his wish and then praised Mitt Romney for his decision to betray his party and vote to convict and remove a sitting Republican president, President Trump. Media Right News originally reported:
According to an article published by Breitbart, “The Utah Republican accused the president of withholding U.S. security assistance to Ukraine for his own ‘personal’ benefit, arguing that he would not have asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July to review allegations of corruption against former Vice President Joe Biden if it did not help him, politically. Romney said, ‘The president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust. What he did was not perfect. No, it was a flagrant assault under electoral rights, our national security and our fundamental values,’ he declared. Romney became visually emotional before revealing his verdict before the upper chamber. ‘I swore an oath before God to exercise impartial justice. I am profoundly religious. My faith is at the heart of who I am. I take an oath before God as enormously consequential,’ said the senator.”
Romney’s shocking decision even drew praise from impeachment drum beater Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA). Schiff insinuated that Romney displayed “moral courage” in a tweet that can be read below:
Having proven Trump guilty, I asked if there was just one Republican Senator who would say “enough”
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) February 5, 2020
Who would stand up against this dangerously immoral president
Who would display moral courage
Who would do impartial justice as their oath required and convict
And there is. https://t.co/xNHi2CP6oF
Well, all this leads up to the point to be made that drawing praise from Trump’s enemy Adam Schiff wasn’t an isolated incident. Last night at the Democrat presidential debates, Mitt Romney was a topic of debate on the stage. But it wasn’t Democrats lambasting him for being a rich “greedy” businessman like they have demonized him for in the past.
Now, due to one simple vote, just like happened with the late Senator John McCain, Mitt appears to have become a new darling on the left. Presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar had kinds words for Mitt in the middle of a slam on Pete Buttigieg, in the most recent Democrat debate last night.
“There was a lot of courage that you saw, from only a few people”, Klobuchar proclaimed. She first praised Doug Jones (D-AL), then went on to say there was courage from Mitt Romney. Then she went on to praise the recently fired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. See video below from the ever-increasingly hostile Democrat debates:
Amy Klobuchar praises Mitt Romney's "courage" for impeachment vote, then turns to Pete Buttigieg: "You said it was exhausting to watch and that you wanted to turn the channel and watch cartoons." https://t.co/Rhy9aOaDTU #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/Tr7lk4Cyay
— ABC News (@ABC) February 8, 2020
It’s tough to say what Romney’s next move will be. Will he stay in the Republican party and continue to throw monkey wrenches in President Trump’s administration? Will he run for re-election when the time comes or change to a Democrat? Will he apologize to President Trump? Doubtful.
One thing is for sure, the Republicans are generally united since the impeachment fiasco and generally accepted concept that the 2020 Democratic presidential field is looking increasingly weak, and Romney is likely an outlier, not a trend, going into this wild election season that is upon us.
