Romney will vote to convict Trump
[Hat tip: commenter “texexec.”]
Well, well, well. Mitt Romney is going to vote to convict Trump:
In a stunning break with his party, Romney became the first Republican to say that he would find Trump guilty of an impeachment charge, with his remarks coming just hours before the Senate was set to vote.
“The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor. Yes, he did,” Romney said in remarks on the Senate floor.
Not a single GOP senator was in attendance for Romney’s somber remarks…
I wonder if there’s a single person (except the left and NeverTrumpers, of course) who will see Romney’s vote as anything other than pure revenge and an attention-getting device. Ah, how the left will love him and laud him as the only Republican patriot and hero!
That seems to be the attention he craves. Obviously Romney doesn’t care about being re-elected. My guess is that this sort of opportunity was the main reason he decided to run for the Senate from a safely red state – to hurt Trump. Senators serve for 6 years, so the state of Utah is stuck with him for a while, and so are we. He’s going to be there till 2024. I don’t think there’s any way to recall a senator, either.
Very very sad, I think.
[NOTE: I see that Schiff says Romney is displaying “moral courage.” Coming from Schiff, that’s rather humorous.]
I want my 2012 vote back.
Chris Wallace is just the lackey to lap up that horseshit explanation.
Mitt should be glad he wasn’t the president or he would be impeached for what he just did, abusing his power to go after a political opponent who he despised and jealous of, and if removed would allow Romney to run for president this year.
remember the democrats had outlawed any political moves that might have been motivated by any self interest despite how small an impact it might had in the whole decision making process.
” and the horse he rode in on.”
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/521049/where-does-phrase-and-horse-you-rode-come
“I want my 2012 vote back.” T…exactly what I thought when I read this. Besides shining a light on how the Republicans/Democrats have spun their wheels for years, just talking, not problem-solving, President Trump has shone a light on the people that make up the bureaucracy (elected and unelected) and it is much worse than I imagined.
Neither Schiff nor Romney has any moral courage. To claim as much is to claim the sun rises in the west.
I am not sure Mitt would have made it to the Senate from Utah had he not been a Mormon. Obama had him pegged: he is a thin reed of a man.
Yep, I’m almost embarrassed that I voted for this git in 2012. But at the time, it was the only viable not-Democrat path … for what that’s turning out be worth, with his recent actions.
Mittens, quit teasing the Democrats. Just rip off your clothes and jump in bed with them already.
Who was sidelined in Utah to make space for this useless airbreather Romney? What fine Senator might Utah have had instead of this paperweight?
why is anyone surprised? Mccain would have voted to convict just the same if he was alive. Doesn’t really contradict the partisan claim made by trump yesterday, Mitt is a nevertrumper.
Mitt like Ana Navarro would love to keep his republican label just to make his criticisms of republicans and trump sound a bit more creditable and can be referenced by democrats and liberal media as a voice of resistance within the party
I’ve thought the residual NeverTrump chatter consisted of threads of vanity and threads of spite. Another piece of evidence toward that thesis.
texexec:
Trump should just ignore Romney, IMHO.
I wonder whether he will be able to do so, though. But I think treating him as though he’s unimportant would be the best move.
I wish Romney would explain whether Biden has some kind of immunity from a corruption investigation because he’s running for office, and Trump should’ve waited until after November? If that’s not the rationale, would it have been acceptable for Trump to ask DOJ and FBI to investigate? Could they make inquiries of persons in Ukraine or only seek out domestic sources of information?
I have been completely lost on this aspect of the impeachment.
I, too, voted Romney in 2012. My Bad.
And I was surprised that some of my GOP friends said they left that part of the ballot blank. It is now easy to understand why they did so.
So disappointed–and embarrassed. Clearly, my ability to judge character is suspect.
Oddly, I thought highly of Romney, and poorly of Trump. I had it backwards. Trump, for his obvious flaws, is proving to be the better human being; and one must assume the superior President. Unless, of course, we learn that Romney is suffering an onset of dementia, early alszheimers, or some other personality distorting disorder.
There are two republicans who I suspect are being blackmailed by the deep state:
Jeff Sessions
Mitt Romney
This sort of thing is very difficult to know with any degree of certainty, of course, but we should take notice when people behave a little oddly and against their own obvious best interests.
Let’s take Miff Romney’s actions right now. I do not see any upside for him in voting to convict, while there is definitely upside for the deep state in blackmailing him to vote that way. In fact, why did he even bother to run for the senate after being nominated for president? It’s quite a step down in my opinion, when he could just retire. While it’s difficult to see the upside for him in running for the Senate rather than retiring, it’s easy to see why the deep state might blackmail him into running again, because then they have a republican Senator under their thumb.
Jeff Sessions actions are also difficult to understand. He was one of the first significant republican politicians to endorse Trump, when it might have made more sense to wait and see. Perhaps he was blackmailed into doing this so the deep state could get high-level inside information on the Trump campaign. The alternative explanation is that he really, really liked Trump. OK, if this was the case, why then all that nonsense about recusing himself while staying on as AG? President Trump explicitly insulted him time and again. Why put up with that if he was a man of honor? Because the deep state wanted inside info about how the administration was reacting to the Mueller investigation? And now he is running for the senate again, making all the right noises about supporting the president, when he could just retire? This again might be the deep state blackmailing him to get another republican Senator under its thumb.
What really bothers me about all this is how Mitt and others have totally accepted Schiff’s description of what happened. I think Trump was concerned about giving our money to a very corrupt country. It had little to do with military sales. Furthermore, the country just elected a non-politician who ran on anticorruption, and his party was just seated in the parliament. As I remember, this Biden Burisma thing had made the news not long before (as did Biden’s May braggiing about getting the Ukranian prosecutor fired, so of course, there would be anticorruption tie. Far too many people have let a complicated situation to be pared into one line by Schiff. Where are the brains?
I’m just glad he got his inevitable betrayal out of the way now, when it won’t really affect the final outcome rather than when there was a close vote in the Senate on something important. Now the Republican caucus knows who and where he is, and that they can’t trust him.
Mittens Romney, incompetent even in his treason.
DaveP:
He hasn’t gotten it over with. He will probably keep it up. He is in the Senate till January of 2025. The GOP may lose seats in 2020. If they retain the majority but the margin is small or tied, Mitt becomes far more powerful than he is now.
I am definitely embarrassed to have ever supported Romney. I didn’t support Trump, but he has, IMHO, been a good President overall/so far.
I, too, voted for Romney in 2012. I thought he would be a better president than Obama, and I still think so. Note what a low bar that is, though.
This is an object lesson on how judging candidates on their personal lives can lead to really bad political decisions. Romney’s personal life is exemplary, and he is a generous giver. He’s an awful politician, with all the wrong instincts. Trump’s past personal life was not exemplary, and some of his business dealings have been questionable. HIs political instincts have proved stellar, and he has kept more promises, and done more positive things for the country, than most people expected (even those who voted for him, like me).
Sorry I voted for this rotten guy.
Utah had a solid conservative candidate named Kennedy but he couldn’t overcome Mitt’s name recognition in the primary.
Dems were right though when they said Romney’s devilish good look and his intentionally left out of the dye grey sideburns made him look like lucifer.
I just saw a video clip of Romney. He says his religion made him do it, or words to that effect. I suppose it’s possible, but count me as skeptical.
Neo- I actually have a bet running that, if the 2020 Senate is 50-50 (or 49-51 with a Democrat in the White House), Romney will cross the aisle.
But now there’s no risk that the Republican Senate Caucus can rely on him for something important in the mistaken belief that he has any kind of loyalty.
Neo…
Ignoring Romney would be a good solution. I just didn’t want Trump to criticize Romney for his decision o convict, especially if it got personal.
Nobody should feel ashamed for voting for Romney in 2012.
It’s well documented here that I thoroughly loathed Romney from start to finish and I voted for him.
Can’t say I’m pleased to have my opinion of the man vindicated, but I also can’t say I ever seriously doubted my intuition about him (and that’s all it was – a gut revulsion, an unshakeable feeling that something was badly ‘off’ about the man).
I don’t recall exactly what I said back then, but I’m sure it was something like, “Romney just makes my skin crawl.”
But what choice did we have? Honestly, if it was Obama vs. Romney all over again, knowing what we *know* now, I’d still vote for Romney.
I’d spend the next four years whipping myself in sackcloth and ash, but still. Let’s not forget what kind of scumbag Obama was – never mind the deep dark corners of his coalition.
I agree with you, expat. You cannot view the contents of the phone call in a vacuum, which is what Mittens seems to be doing.
You have to understand the whole plot against Trump that began as far back as 2015. You can’t just claim that Trump’s request to Zelensky was totally motivated by a desire to “cheat” in the 2020 election. Trump has been under siege by the Democrats and never-Trumpers. He and his supporters have a right to know what transpired. That Ukraine was involved in spreading dirt about Manafort and attempted, unsuccessfully, to find dirt on Trump is well established. Ukraine was a honey pot for scoundrels under Yanukovych and Poroshenko. Several Americans cashed in. Not only Manafort, but John & Toy Podesta, Greg Craig, Hunter Biden, Devon Archer, and other less well known operatives. Whether Joe Biden’s motive in getting the Ukrainian investigator fired was to protect his son’s cushy job with Burisma cannot be known unless someone can determine what was discussed in the White House meeting between Ukrainians, Eric Ciarmella, and State Department personnel in January 2016. However, Trumps’ curiosity and desire to get to the bottom of that issue, as well as the activities of Alexandra Chalupa in gathering campaign dirt on him and his campaign, is certainly understandable. How that in any way is “cheating” in the coming election is beyond me.
Shouldn’t the American voters have a right to know that one of the candidates for the Democrat presidential nomination may have been using his office to provide inside government help to enrich members of his family? Apparently not, according to the House Dems minus three, the Democrat Senators plus Never-Trumper Mittens. Thus, the crime is in the eye of the beholder and strictly partisan.
Remember this in November. And don’t hesitate to call Romney’s office and let him know what you think. (202) 224-5251
Injured vanity.
mitt succumbed to the temptation by the devil.
Fool or knave? Don’t know and don’t care. I revoke (in spirit) my vote for him in 2012, regret everything I said and did to promote his candidacy and am now very grateful he lost. A Romney presidency would have done nothing but continue the slow steady decline of the GOP, largely at the hands of Conservatism, Inc.
“Democrats never break ranks because only our party permits Weak Sister Grifters who crave liberal media approval to represent us.”–Ace. Sadly this truth still stands. JJ, I did call that number and left a message, a short amalgam of some of the points made in the above comments.
Elections have consequences.
Utah got who it voted for…and they should be reminded of that often.
And every other R should shut Romney out of the coffee klatch…his votes in this dumpster fire should be used against him in every possible way. McConnell ought to be in his face talking resignation or at the least party switch. Ads ought to be on Utah TV right now blasting him. New candidates should be lining up with the RNC asking for help. This one should stain him forever.
If I could I’d take back my vote for him and ryan in 2012 I would gladly. Disgraceful. Tell me it can be done. I wouldn’t trust the man to pick up my trash. We had such high hopes for him after the Olympics. Like I said, Disgraceful.
I say strip Romney of all committee assignments and give him a chair in the Senate washroom where he can be in charge of cleaning toilets and mopping the floor.
Sharon W –
That quote caught my eye too. Perhaps because too many Republicans have failed to realize the gravity of the situation in which we find ourselves.
Romney may think he’s playing a game bigger than politics, but he’s nonetheless doing it *politically,* so he’s simply playing a game, probably more foolishly than knavishly, in which he’s aiding and abetting the people who hate his guts and everything he (supposedly) stands for, people who would happily see him and his faith reduced to vapor.
One day, people like Romney are going to seriously regret not having Trump to kick around anymore. I could promise them that.
Romney is playing a bigger game, then, in a sense – a game of which he’s totally oblivious. He’s failed, like too many Republican officials, to appreciate what Angelo Codevilla has been trying to get across (e.g., here: https://amgreatness.com/2020/02/04/facing-up-to-the-revolution/).
No surprise, is it?
He completely failed to appreciate it in 2012 as well, which is why he was constantly caught flat-footed by the sleazy misdeeds of his opponents.
Being righteous is not a political stance. If that’s the only thing guiding you, then you’re not representing anything or anyone except the whims and caprices of your own whims and caprices. I never got the sense, anyway, that Romney cared about anything aside from his sense of his own sanctity, much like McCain.
He shows – and showed – no understanding or awareness of the context of his actions, because he remains what he’s always been: a self-absorbed, sanctimonious narcissist who thinks only of polishing his halo and reminding everyone of the cross he bears for our sins.
I’d love to hear about one of his top advisor’s connections to Burisma. Maybe Trump should have asked Zelensky about that?
I too voted for this pious, empty suit in 2012.
Mitt makes Uriah Heep look like General Patton.
Romney is quite the disappointment. I too voted for him thinking he would be better than Obama — I still think that — and hoping he would provide some no-nonsense competency which would take care of the country and allow things to cool off.
Perhaps Romney could have managed that. But he doesn’t have the character I thought he had, so maybe not.
I doubt history will treat him well.
i beg to differ, history will treat him very well since the people who write history are the liberals.
Whoever wrote that article and used the word “stunning” for Pierre’s vote to convict hasn’t been paying attention. I think he has it in for Trump and this is more payback than any great moral conundrum for him. Pierre has given a few interviews patting himself on the back for his courage in making the vote even though it will cost him politically. He got that right anyway.
Yet another slimy politician, cloaking their far from honorable motives and actions under a cloying blanket of phony religiosity, piety, and sanctimony–see also the examples of Pelosi and Buttigieg.
At Instapundit, the point is made that Mitt asked to allow the pro-Dem witnesses because there was not enough evidence.
Despite no witnesses, he nevertheless voted to convict.
I think Mr. Romney’s judgement was faulty, and his political acumen woefully deficient, but I will not gainsay any person’s conscience.
Romney votes with Reps on 80% – McConnell often needs that vote.
NBC has Romney’s speech (in text! so I can read it). He knows his vote is symbolic.
I’m fairly sure, in his own mind, he really thinks Trump was guilty of abuse of power, for personal and political gain. As he writes.
If he really thinks that, and I think he really does, he made the right vote. I think he’s really really wrong about Trump being guilty of any abuse.
It’s not clear to me that Romney understands the difference between “use of power” and “abuse of power” — despite him having better abs than Trump.
It’s also possible, tho not at all stated, that Romney thought Obama was abusing his power, and that Joe Biden was abusing his power — but there were not votes on that question.
Romney also wanted more witnesses, especially Bolton. I sort of did, too. Especially Hunter Biden. Romney notes Joe Biden should have recused himself on Ukraine, with his son getting an exorbitant salary. “While ignoring a conflict of interest is not a crime, it is surely very wrong”.
Actually, it was bribery. A crime. The DOJ should be prosecuting Joe Biden for it. I’m outraged that the DOJ is not doing so.
Getting outraged at Mittens for rationalizing his conviction vote, rather than outraged at the deep state’s protection of Dem crimes, seems to me to be a bad distraction. A re-direction of attention from the real problem, DOJ failing to prosecute real Dem crimes, to the preferred deep state shampeachment.
Disraeli said about Gladstone, “He made his conscience not his guide but his accomplice.” More on this in a comment on Neo’s following post.
What Romney and every other Republican should have said to the House Managers was, “Sorry for your loss, suckers.”
J.J.,
I just called Romney’s office and left a message. Thanks for the phone number.
TRUMP JUst stomped on Romney with this videotweet:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1225203837226700800
The best observation is that Mitt voted for more witnesses the week before to help make up his mind. Well he didn’t get anymore witnesses, but that didn’t stop him from making up his mind and voting to remove Trump from office. So he really didn’t need more witnesses…did he? It was all a sham to cover his sorry ass.
Having been raised around Mormons for most of my life, I always thought highly of them and for the most part voted for them. Following Jeff Flake, Mike Lee (his poorly timed attack after the briefing on the killing of Salamani in front of the Left-wing radical MSM) and Now Mitt-ens, NEVER AGAIN. I encourage others to consider the same path. Their religion teaches it males to be Christ-like in dealing with other people. This is commendable; however they need to show more anger every once in awhile like Christ throwing the money changers from the Temple instead of always Christ laying down with lambs. Sometimes those lamb are wolves dressed as Democrats.
At least Paul Ryan has had the decency to retire from public life.
John Nolte collected some quotes from Mittens. I think no one has more regard for Romney than Romeny.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/06/mitt-romney-pays-tribute-himself-voting-convict-innocent-man/
Nothing to see here. Romney has always been a coward and a fraud, from day one.
Romney’s dislike of Trump is long-standing.Mitt Romney’s remarks on Donald Trump and the 2016 race (March 3,2016).
Given what Romney said about Trump, it is not difficult to see why Trump didn’t offer Mitt a position in his Administration.
How was Mitt as a prognosticator?
Not very good.
Unfortunately, Mitt’s term ends in five years. So, you can’t get rid of him very easily.