There are some new suggestions that Mitt Romney — now a GOP senator from Utah and the failed 2012 presidential candidate — might be feeling out a primary run against President Donald Trump next year.
Those suggestions appeared earlier in 2019 — and now they’re back.
Why, you might ask?
He has “re-emerged, as he does occasionally, to be the self-appointed voice of morality. He slammed President Trump’s behavior during the [July 25] phone call to Ukraine’s President Zelensky as ‘wrong and appalling,'” as Hot Air noted.
See this tweet about Romney’s latest “quiet” activity behind the scenes:
BREAKING: Senator Mitt Romey has been calling conservative donors asking about a potential 2020 primary run against President Trump
— Jack Posobiec ?? (@JackPosobiec) October 4, 2019
But while Romney is so eager right now to go after the sitting Republican president, where has Romney been on calling out Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for his widely criticized “parody” version of that same phone call — a made-up narrative he read into the congressional record during a live, televised hearing recently?
Where is Romney on calling out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for her failure thus far to follow proper procedure and hold a vote in the House as to whether an impeachment inquiry should even go forward for clarity (and put people on the record about it)?
Instead, Romney is all too comfortable these days sending out a tweet like this one, slamming Trump, as he did on Friday:
By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) October 4, 2019
Trump, however, has firmly stood by his actions when it comes to his request to figure out what sort of corruption may have occurred by the Bidens in relation to Ukraine.
“As President I have an obligation to end CORRUPTION, even if that means requesting the help of a foreign country or countries. It is done all the time,” Trump tweeted on Friday.
“This has NOTHING to do with politics or a political campaign against the Bidens. This does have to do with their corruption!”
He also sent out this tweet:
Mitt Romney never knew how to win. He is a pompous “ass” who has been fighting me from the beginning, except when he begged me for my endorsement for his Senate run (I gave it to him), and when he begged me to be Secretary of State (I didn’t give it to him). He is so bad for R’s!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2019
Unfortunately for Romney, his anti-Trump tweets have quickly come back to bite him.
Conservatives have responded on Twitter by bashing him for criticizing President Trump.
“Today I’m reminded of how fortunate we are not to have Corker and Flake in the Senate,” wrote Laura Ingraham, host of “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News on Friday after Romney slammed Trump in his tweet. “We only have to endure Romney’s self-righteous blather, and sometimes Sasse’s.”
Today I’m reminded of how fortunate we are not to have Corker and Flake in the Senate. We only have to endure Romney’s self-righteous blather, and sometimes Sasse’s: https://t.co/SESA2QqiM1
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) October 4, 2019
“Mitt Romney is a loser, just the same as Beto O’Rourke,” wrote another conservative on Twitter.
“He … begs for Trump’s endorsement, which Trump gave, and now, same as Mika and Joe [of ‘Morning Joe’], they run a shiv in Trump’s back. These are some of the most disgusting people ever!”
And there are many tweets like these circulating as well:
The contempt of this man is unbelievable and if he does he will be thoroughly embarrassed because he is far from the legend that his own mind tells him that he is. Lying RINO.
— David White (@dbwhite99036) October 4, 2019
LMAO.
Mitt Romney is actually considering a primary run against Trump. Someone should tell Mittens the losing at all cost days of Romney and McCain are over.
We prefer WINNING with Trump.
— thebradfordfile™ (@thebradfordfile) October 4, 2019
“Romney’s behavior toward Trump has been erratic from the start,” Hot Air also pointed out. “He blasted Trump before the election, then pursued the position of secretary of State and then ran for the U.S. Senate with the mission of being a thorn in Trump’s side. His talent at flip-flopping is legendary.”
“Somebody please wake up Mitt Romney,” Trump tweeted on Saturday — and defended his phone conversation as “congenial and very appropriate.”
And there’s this: “When push comes to shove, [Romney] usually whiffs,” noted Hot Air.
And: “Romney is stuck in Establishment Republican mode. His time has passed. An argument can be made that he’s an example of how we got Trump in 2016. Trump voters aren’t as interested in the president’s words as they are actions. Romney isn’t a fighter. He swats his opponents. Americans were ready for a fighter and that’s why Trump rose as he did. Romney hasn’t learned that lesson yet.”
Trump has repeatedly said that as president, he has a duty to take steps against corruption and that he never mentioned aid or the 2020 presidential campaign.
The White House released a full transcript of the call — so there’s no question of what was said by the two men.
Related: White House Releases Transcript of Trump’s July 25 Phone Call
Speaking on Sunday morning to anchor Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” on the Fox News Channel, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee — discussed the latest impeachment-connected action among House Democrats toward Trump.
Graham called out the Democratic side for its politically motivated push. “This smells,” said Graham of the endeavor. “This seems like a political set-up.”
His remarks came as the attorney for the first so-called “whistleblower” about Trump’s phone call is now saying his team represents “multiple whistleblowers.”
Trump also noted he’s going to send a letter on Monday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) saying she should hold a House floor vote on this impeachment inquiry.
“One of the most democratic things you can do in a democracy is to have your elected representative vote on issues important to the country,” said Graham. “So it’s imperative that Democrats vote to open up articles of impeachment inquiry — not just talk about it. Don’t hide behind Nancy Pelosi,” he added.
“It’s very important that the House vote on whether or not we should go forward on impeachment. That’s the democratic way of doing business.”
Graham also noted that this has been “the most consequential two weeks of the 2020 election [period]. What happened in the last two weeks? [Former Vice President] Joe Biden, who is leaking oil — his campaign has just completely imploded,” said the GOP senator. “I think he’s probably done. He’s the biggest victim of the whistleblower complaint, because now we know that his son was receiving $50,000 a month from a Ukrainian gas company while Joe was in charge of the Ukrainian portfolio, and $1 billion-plus from a subsidiary of a China bank — based on what qualifications?”
“I think everybody in the media should go to the Democrats and ask them, ‘Why aren’t you voting to open up an impeachment inquiry?'”
“So I think this is a nightmare for the Biden campaign,” added Graham.
He also noted that recently, “Bernie Sanders ha[d] a heart attack. Nancy Pelosi is now trapped. She embarked on impeachment inquiry based on a transcript she hadn’t read. And here is what I would like Fox [News] or somebody to do. Go to every Republican and ask the question: ‘Do you believe the transcript itself is an impeachable offense? What the president said on the transcript — is that his impeachable offense?’ I think it’s ridiculous to say that the president did something wrong based on the phone call,” he added. “And I think everybody in the media should go to the Democrats and ask them, ‘Why aren’t you voting to open up an impeachment inquiry?'”
Oh — and don’t miss this tweet (and the poll results) here:
Let’s see how much of a hellscape Twitter is. Whom do you respect more?
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 5, 2019
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