It’s Donald Trump’s Republican Party and you damn well better get used to it — or else.
Utah Senator Mitt Romney had some pointed criticism of the president for his appeals to Ukraine and China to dig up dirt on Joe Biden. He called the Ukraine call “troubling”:
“My reaction was the same as I had a few days ago which is that this remains deeply troubling,” Romney said Wednesday at The Atlantic Festival in Washington. “And we’ll see where it leads.”
But Romney saved his real fire for when he responded to the president’s comment at a press conference where he asked China to investigate Biden as well.
“When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China’s investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated,” Romney tweeted.
“By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling,” he added.
That one stung. Trump let loose his own volley of invective directed at Romney:
Mitt Romney never knew how to win. He is a pompous “ass” who has been fighting me from the beginning, except when he begged me for my endorsement for his Senate run (I gave it to him), and when he begged me to be Secretary of State (I didn’t give it to him). He is so bad for R’s!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2019
And later, Trump called for Romney’s “impeachment” — despite the fact that Utah has no law that allows for the removal of a senator.
I’m hearing that the Great People of Utah are considering their vote for their Pompous Senator, Mitt Romney, to be a big mistake. I agree! He is a fool who is playing right into the hands of the Do Nothing Democrats! #IMPEACHMITTROMNEY
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2019
Trump wasn’t done with the Mittster.
Somebody please wake up Mitt Romney and tell him that my conversation with the Ukrainian President was a congenial and very appropriate one, and my statement on China pertained to corruption, not politics. If Mitt worked this hard on Obama, he could have won. Sadly, he choked!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2019
It may not be possible to impeach Romney, but the people of Utah might very well be regretting sending him to Washington. Romney has the highest disapproval rating in the Utah congressional delegation.
Romney is troubled by the Ukraine call and appeal to China to investigate Biden. There are, indeed, lots of other Republicans who are also troubled by this. Trump’s assurances notwithstanding, if, as seems possible, the president delayed weapons delivery to Ukraine unless they did his bidding on Biden, Romney wouldn’t be the only Republican calling for the president’s head.
But it’s Trump’s insistence on slavish loyalty that makes him dangerous. He brooks no criticism whatsoever. If you get out of line by a millimeter, he falls on you like a ton of bricks. He has Republicans terrified and running scared. Trump is partially aided by the hysterical partisanship of Democrats, which creates an atmosphere where sticking together is the only way to survive. But that support is a mile wide and an inch deep. It will melt away if it’s found Trump committed an impeachable offense.
Is this really the sort of Republican Party you want — with Trump as fuhrer taking out his rage on anyone who isn’t 100% for him? Romney is a meaningless actor in this drama. Why spend the time cutting his legs off? Used to be in America that “everyone has his own opinion.” In Trumpland, you’re not allowed that freedom.
Trump’s thin skin and pettiness may yet be his undoing.
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