We were really hoping for the best when we heard that Mitt Romney was stepping up to run for the Utah seat vacated by retiring Senator Orrin Hatch. Romney hasn’t been completely silent when it comes to his once-vicious criticism of Donald Trump, but he’s definitely toned it down since the 2016 election. Hell, he even auditioned for the role of Secretary of State under his former enemy – how peeved could he still be that Trump succeeded where he (miserably) failed? And since he mostly kept criticism of Trump under his hat during his Senate campaign, we thought surely he’d put all of this nonsense behind him.
Well, turns out not.
In a scathing op-ed for the Washington Post on Wednesday, Romney excoriated President Trump for lacking the “character” to properly lead the nation.
“To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation,” Romney asserts. “A president should unite us and inspire us to follow ‘our better angels.’ A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect. As a nation, 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.”
Yeah, and so what’s the solution, Mitt? Are you going to run against him in the primaries? That should make your loss to Obama look like an all-time great victory.
In a tweet responding to the insulting op-ed, Trump was surprisingly restrained.
“Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast! Question will be, is he a Flake?” Trump wrote. “I hope not. 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!”
Be a team player and win.
Exactly.
We’re all (ostensibly?) on the same side here, Mitt. There IS no NeverTrump Republican side, counter to what you may believe. There are people fighting to remake this country in a conservative, America First way, and then there is everyone else. It doesn’t really matter if your name is Nancy Pelosi, Paul Krugman, Nicolle Wallace, or Bill Kristol, you are either playing for the left’s team or you are on Team Trump.
Which is it going to be, Mitt? Make your choice and make it now.
