Senator Mitt Romney, a U.S. senator and former presidential candidate, has called out some Trump supporters for believing President Joe Biden didn’t win the 2020 election fairly. The senator said these MAGA (Make America Great Again) supporters are out of touch with reality and believe everything former President Trump speaks.
Romney has been a frequent critic of Trump and was the first senator to vote for the conviction of a member of his party. Read on to discover more about Romney’s criticism of Trump and his supporters.
Romney-Trump Relationship
Mitt Romney wasn’t always antagonistic toward former president Donald Trump. Both met almost two decades ago, in 1995, according to a biography on Romney. According to the book, their relationship went sour close to the 2016 election when Trump declared his decision to run for Presidency.
During that time, Romney denounced Trump’s candidacy and called him racist, bigoted, prone to violence and unquestionably mentally unstable. He even admonished those who sought to endorse the former president. There have been moments of ‘peace’ between the two, like when Trump endorsed Romney for Senate in early 2018. However, most of their relationship since 2016 has been tense.
The 2016 Anti-Trump Speech
In a speech for the Hinckley Institute of Politics, Romney officially denounced Trump on March 13, 2016. He urged citizens to use tactical voting to ensure Trump didn’t get the majority of the caucuses in Utah. His speech represented the first time a former presidential nominee would speak against the current party’s front-runner.
In his speech, Romney called Trump’s promises during the then-2016 presidential race worthless, describing the former president as a fraud. Despite his speech, Trump went on to win the presidential election to become the 45th President of the United States.
Unrealistic Trump Supporters
Former president Donald Trump recently won in the Iowa caucus. After he was projected to succeed in Iowa, most of the Iowa GOP caucusgoers began to speculate that President Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election fair and square. According to them, they would prefer to vote for Trump despite his legal troubles.
Romney has blasted these supporters of Trump, calling them ‘out of touch with reality’ supporters who believe whatever comes out of Trump’s mouth. “There was a jury saying Trump raped a woman, and that doesn’t seem to move people’ said Romney referring to a sexual assault case against Trump by writer E. Jean Carroll.
The Iowa Results
Iowa is traditionally the first U.S. state to vote in a presidential election. The Republican voters get her at community halls to listen to the presidential candidates’ supporters and secretly vote for their top candidates. Trump took a 51% lead during the entrance polls.
His running mates, DeSantis and Nikki Haley, finished second and third, respectively, with 21.2% and 19.1% votes. Trump’s win highlighted his strength among key groups of the GOP caucusgoers. Nearly half of them identify with the MAGA movement, and they made up most of his voters at the entrance polls.
The Rape Charges
As stated earlier in the article, Romney could not believe that Trump’s supporters could still stand behind him after a jury said that the former president had raped a woman. Despite being found liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll, Trump has been launching counterattacks to state that Carroll is a liar.
Currently, he is attending trials to determine the amount of damages he owes Carroll. While in court, the former president has been known to spar with the judge several times to the point where he has been threatened with removal from the proceedings.
The Damaged Reputation
Writer E. Jean Carroll wrote in her book that Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York dressing room in the mid-1990s. After her book became public, the former president made defamatory remarks about her, which damaged Carroll’s reputation and exposed her to hateful comments from strangers online.
The damaged reputation prompted Carroll to sue Trump over his 2019 remarks. “I am here because Donald Trump assaulted me, and when I wrote about it, he called me a liar and damaged my reputation,” testified Carroll. The writer had previously won $5 million in damages when a jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse.
The Human Gumball Machine
Romney describes Trump as a human Gumball machine, referring to his tendency to speak recklessly without a filter. “He just says whatever he wants, so I don’t attach any amount of impact on the specific words he speaks,” said Romney. He also believes that Trump has authoritarian ideologies, which he will try to impose on the judicial system if reelected.
Romney’s comments about the former president’s behavior and nature of speech arose from concerns about Trump’s rhetoric. This rhetoric has been compared with those of famous dictators like Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.
An Unfit Politician
Romney has stated that the former president is unfit for office. The U.S. senator believes Trump’s conduct and character make him an unfit candidate for office. He also criticized the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for handling Trump’s hush money case, where he pleaded not guilty.
“The truth is no one is above the law, not even former presidents. But everybody requires equal treatment under the law. However, the prosecutor’s overreach damages the public’s faith in the judicial system and sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents,” Romney said.
A Risk To The Nation
Romney has also said in interviews that Donald Trump represents a failure of character that poses a risk to the United States. The senator believes the former president’s actions during his last days in office pose a great risk to the nation’s psyche and heart, which take a long time to repair.
“The character of our leaders shapes the character of our country and makes a difference. While that was the character of the party I started with, I can’t find that character amongst most of our party today,” said Romney.
Romney Says Trump to Blame For Violence at Capitol
After Biden was declared president, some unrealistic supporters of Donald Trump incited violence at the nation’s Capitol Hill building in an attempt to overthrow the election ruling and return power to Trump. Romney blames Trump for encouraging the violence.
According to the U.S. senator, the Capitol Hill violence was due to the misinformation Trump had been giving his followers and his injured pride. Romney believes anyone who continues to support Trump’s dangerous game by objecting to the results of fair election could be seen as an accomplice in an unprecedented attack against U.S. democracy.
Probable Biden Endorsement
Romney has expressed the possibility of voting for President Joe Biden if the presidential race was ever decided between him and Trump. The U.S. senator made this statement as he expressed his concerns about the former president winning the upcoming election. He believes Trump’s actions as of late are a cause for concern.
“If you look at his record as president, particularly his last months as president, you can say this is a dangerous, authoritarian approach, and that scares me more than him playing to the crowd does,” said Romney.
Need For Young Leaders
Romney has called on Donald Trump and President Joe Biden to step aside for younger leaders. The U.S. senator says it would be excellent if the two political leaders could step back from the spotlight and let their respective parties pick someone younger.
“President Biden said he was a transitional figure for the next generation. Well, now is the time to transition,” says Romney. While people think Biden is a successful president, a poll last month shows 75% of Americans think he’s too old to continue as president. Rule.
No Desire For Re-Election
Romney has declared that he won’t be running for senator in 2024. This is likely how he plans to end his career, which began in 1994. The U.S. senator believes there’s a need for a new generation that will shape the world they live in, which is what the United States needs now.
He adds that he is skeptical that former President Donald Trump or President Joe Biden can handle America’s current issues. He also said after he leaves the Senate, he plans on getting more youngsters involved in the political process and encouraging them to vote.
Final Summary
For Mitt Romney, Donald Trump is a dangerous politician who is capable of using his authoritarian ideologies to twist narratives and get people to believe him. The U.S. senator is baffled that people still stand by the former president’s actions.
Furthermore, he says those supporters are out of touch with reality and might become complicit if they keep playing Trump’s dangerous games. The Utah senator believes even a Democrat like Joe Biden would be better than Trump to win the election. Despite Romney’s misgivings about Trump, he is still a favorite to win the Republican presidential primary.
