Romney publicly castigates Trump
WASHINGTON: Former presidential candidate and incoming Senator Mitt Romney has said US President Donald Trump has not “risen to the mantle of the office” in the two years in office.
His comments came in a blistering op-ed in Washington Post, ahead of taking oath as a Republican senator on Thursday, when the new US Congress takes over and the House of Representatives passes into Democratic control.
Romney’s piece signalled resumption of hostilities between the two men who have fought bitterly before—romney called Trump a “fraud” and a “con man” —and, most worrying for the president, could make Republican control of the Senate less dependable to cushion the hostility he is bound to get from the Democratic-ruled House.
Democrats were uniformly overjoyed. Some Republicans welcomed it while others, such as the president’s 2020 campaign, derided it as the whine of a jealous loser (Romney lost to President Barack Obama in 2012). Trump responded on Wednesday along those lines. “Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast!,” he tweeted. “Would much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful. I won big, and he didn’t. He should be happy for all Republicans. Be a TEAM player & WIN!”
In the op-ed, Romney said that though he had opposed Trump as a candidate, he had hoped Trump as both candidate and president would rise to the occasion. “But, on balance, his conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions last month, is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office.”
He said Trump lacks the character required in a president.
“A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect...we have been blessed with presidents who have called on the greatness of the American spirit. With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring.”
He said he will support policies that he agrees with and will speak out “against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions”. In other words, he will not stand by in a Senate where Republicans have a razor-thin majority of 51 to 49.