LOS ANGELES.–Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Ut.), 77, tries to excuse his abysmal 2024 presidential predictions, completely misreading 78-year-old President Donald Trump, refusing to accept reality in the Republican Party that Trump, for all intents and purposes, rescued the party from its inevitable collapse. Romney, who ran for president against former President Barack Obama in 2012, did rather poorly, easily handing Obama, with all his progressive policies, another four years. Trump watched Romney closely and was harsh in his assessment of Romney’s performance, saying, “he choked like a dog.” Romney never forgot Trump criticism of his presidential campaign when Trump started his run in 2015 for president. Romney was one of his fiercest critics, saying such horrible things like Trump was a “phony and a fraud,” when, in reality, Trump was the first real deal since President Ronald Reagan.
After losing to Obama, Romney waited his turn, replacing the venerable Sen. Orin Hatch (R-Ut.) for in 2019, continuing his blistering criticism of Trump, essentially agreeing with both impeachment trials against Trump. Romney didn’t look at the facts, he only looked at his bruised ego that Trump did the impossible in 2016, despite all his criticism, beating former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Romney was big backer of the FBI Russian collusion case against Trump, not because it had any merits but because it satisfied his petty vindictive side refusing to accept Trump’s success. Then, at a time of Covid-19, Romney joins the Senate and continues to lead the Never Trump GOP crowd in Congress. Romney could not give Trump credit for becoming president, because he didn’t. Now Mitt wants to rewrite history after writing Trump off in 2024.
Romney was so anti-Trump in 2024 he looked like he was actively campaigning for 60-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris. Romney coyly refused to answer who he voted for in 2024, predicting a Kamala landslide. “I’m, as you know, not a supporter of President Trump’s. I didn’t support him in the election. I didn’t support the last time he ran either, largely for matters of character,” Romney told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “MAGA is the Republican Party and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today,” Romney admitted to Tapper, knowing during Trump’s four years in office and his most recent run for president another fierce critic. CNN literally wrecked its ratings by assuming the role of spoiler in the media for anything Trump, essentially killing its own ratings. Romney frequently appeared on CNN and MSNBC, two of Trump biggest media critics over the last 10 years.
Romney preached to the choir during his time in the Senate appearing frequently on CNN or quoted in the New York Times or Washington Post. Romney liked the media attention, the same kind that was afforded to any Republican agreeing to denounce Trump in the national press. Romney readily cooperated taking shots at Trump even when he was unfairly investigated and prosecuted by the government largely driven by politics inside the Department of Justice and the FBI. Romney never acknowledged in 2019 when he first took office that Special Counsel Robert Mueller acquitted Trump of any collusion or conspiracy with Russia. Yet Romney said nothing about the DOJ and FBI’s egregious political prosecutions of Trump. When it came to both of Trump’s impeachments, one for influencing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensly and the other “incitement of insurrection,” Romney never conceded.
Romney went right along with the Democrat horde looking for any reason to prosecute Trump, including his various recent trials in New York for defrauding the government and Trump’s Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Hush money case. No, Romney played right along with the fake news to prosecute Trump. “I think most people disagree with me. I’m willing to live with that. I just put emphasis on different things that I think the public at large does right now,” Romney told Tapper, not admitting he made a fool out himself because of his personal vendetta with Trump. But what’s the excuse for the fake news, no personal vendetta, only a political one because they back liberals like Vice President Kamala Harris. Tapper tried to get Romney to rehash his views on Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, where Romney agreed with Democrats that Trump committed crimes.
CNN’s Tapper did everything to encourage Romney to take parting shots at Trump now that he’s retiring from a one-term Senate career. Romney has nothing good to say about Trump other than telling Tapper he deserves a chance to implement his program now that he’s won a second term. “I agree with him on a lot of political fronts. I disagree with him on some things,” Romney told Tapper. “But it’s like, OK, give him a chance to do what he said he’s gonna do and see how it works out,” Romney said, the closest to saying anything positive. Trump did what Romney couldn’t do create a national movement, MAGA, that brought back a moribund Republcan Party from obsolescence. Democrats and progressive politics were on the rise after former President Barack Obama, 63, finished his two terms. Now things look like the country has swung in Trump’s direction.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
