Senator Mitt Romney made a lot of noise back in 2016, being one of the most outspoken critics of then-GOP nominee Donald Trump. Now, in a scathing op-ed written for The Washington Post, Romney upped the ante, likely setting the tone to his approach to the Senate.
Romney made it clear in his op-ed that he never supported the Trump presidency, noting “Donald Trump was not my choice for Republican nominee.” He didn’t mention it in writing but back in 2016, Romney stated that his “conscience” wouldn’t allow him to vote for Trump (or Hillary Clinton, for that matter).
Romney put Trump’s character on blast, arguing that the president has not forged the unity America needs. When Trump secured the Republican nomination, Romney expressed hopes that the president would refrain from name- calling. He did not. And when Trump won the presidency, Romney expressed hopes that President Trump would rise to the occasion. In Romney’s view, the president failed to do so.
Romney argued that Trump’s initial appointments, including Nikki Haley, Rex Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, Gary Cohn, H.R. McMaster, John Kelly and James Mattis, “were encouraging.” Interestingly, none of these officials remain in the Trump administration. Romney also noted Trump’s rough December. James Mattis and John Kelly both made their exit in December, putting an end to “Trump’s generals.” Haley resigned back in October, but mostly on good terms with both Haley and Trump praising one another.
Romney did praise the president for some of his policy aims, arguing: “He [President Trump] was right to align U.S. corporate taxes with those of global competitors, to strip out excessive regulations, to crack down on China’s unfair trade practices, to reform criminal justice and to appoint conservative judges. These are policies mainstream Republicans have promoted for years. But policies and appointments are only a part of a presidency.”
It looks like Romney will now enter the Senate as one of the most vocal anti-Trump Republicans. Congress has lost many of the most vocal anti-Trump Republican voices. John McCain passed away, Jeff Flake declined to defend his seat in the Senate, House Republican Mark Sanford lost a primary challenge to a Trumper. Many other anti-Trump Republicans were also booted from office either by pro-Trump Republicans or Democrats.
Romney has made it clear that he’ll be filling the void left by these departures. While Romney pledged not to focus on the president’s tweets, he also promised that he “will speak out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions.”
So while Trump has seen many of his GOP critics pushed from office, he’ll still have at least one Republican critic in the Senate.
My Take: There’s a Touch of Hypocrisy Here
While Romney and certain other Republican leaders seem to abhor Trump’s approach to politics, the Republican leadership has for years used divisive politics to rally up their base. Romney notes the politics of hate and divisiveness, but wasn’t it Romney on the 2012 presidential campaign trail who disparaged the “other 47 percent”?
This is perhaps the crux of what’s wrong with American politics today. Many people on the left and right actually share similar views. Most of us want affordable healthcare, to create opportunities, to build a world-class infrastructure, and to have a top-tier public education system.
Yet we view each other as “others.” Politics is now a team sport. We don’t vote on policies anymore, we vote red or blue, often straight down the ticket. The leaders in both parties and Romney himself are responsible for this divisiveness. Yes, Trump is a divisive president, yet he’s also a natural outgrowth of such highly partisan politics.
So doesn’t it seem a bit hypocritical that Romney is now prattling on about “unity”?
