USA TODAY International Edition
Romney stands alone in vote to remove Trump
WASHINGTON – Saying the president committed “an appalling abuse of the public trust,” Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney voted to convict President Donald Trump on the first article of impeachment, the first senator ever to vote against his own party’s president in an impeachment trial.
“This verdict is ours to render,” Romney said in his speech on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the historic 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, a former Massachusetts governor and the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, was elected to the Senate in 2018 from Utah.
Romney acknowledged that his vote would not affect the outcome of the trial. The Senate voted 52- 48 to acquit on the first article, and 53- 47 on the second. Romney voted to acquit on the second charge, obstruction of Congress. Opponents needed 67 of the 100 senators to remove Trump from office.
Trump can tout the acquittal, but Romney’s defection makes it harder for the president to claim total vindication from impeachment.
If any GOP senator were going to defy the president, it was Romney. The senator often has clashed with Trump, calling him a “fraud” and a “phony” when Trump was running in 2016 for president.
“Well, I think he and the president had a little bit of a complicated relationship to start with,” Sen. John Thune, R- S. D., the third most powerful Republican in the Senate, said after Romney’s announcement.
In his speech, Romney did not buy Trump’s defense of his dealings with Ukraine, which were at the center of the president’s impeachment.
“The president asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival. The president withheld vital military funds from that government to press it to do so. The president delayed funds for an American ally at war with Russian invaders. The president’s purpose was personal and political. Accordingly, the president is guilty of an appalling abuse of the public trust.”
Romney acknowledged the scorn he faces from fellow Republicans who are fiercely loyal to Trump and do not tolerate dissension.
“In some quarters, I will be vehemently denounced. I am sure to hear abuse from the president and his supporters,” he said. “Does anyone seriously believe I would consent to these consequences other than from an inescapable conviction that my oath before God demanded it of me?”
Later, during a call with reporters, Romney said he was bracing for the backlash. “I will accept whatever consequence is sent my way and recognize that’s part of the job. People don’t expect me to be a shrinking violet.