Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) Washington Post op-ed this week was presumably intended to be a declaration of moral superiority and political leadership. If this was the goal, Romney’s commentary fell flat. The piece was, however, an effective case study in why Trump won in the first place.
The op-ed offers no concrete examples of which of Trump’s values and policies Romney finds objectionable, instead relying on vagueness and the favorite fallback of the never-Trump crowd: “he’s just offensive”. The term “bad character” is repeatedly used, but never explained. What about President Trump’s character does Romney find so unsuitable? And going beyond the president’s character, why is Romney willfully ignoring all the good Trump has done for the country over his own personal differences with the man?
Romney is not new to the game of politics – he knows he has a chance to help the Republican Party and make a very real impact on our country’s future. Which makes it all the more baffling why he’d attack the president before even being sworn into the Senate.
But in his attacks on the president, Romney inadvertently exposed all of his own weaknesses. An establishment Republican through and through, Sen. Romney is just one of the many swamp-dwellers Trump has readily unmasked and humiliated in his less than two years in office.
Although framed as an attack on the president (“Trump’s character falls short,” the headline reads), the op-ed reads more like Romney giving himself a pat on the back. Highly self-congratulatory, Sen. Romney praises himself for his differences with Trump, all while ignoring the biggest difference: unlike the former Massachusetts governor, Trump actually won his bid for president.
This is common among President Trump’s critics—most show more interest in attacking his perceived weaknesses than they do in accepting their own. Romney has to focus on the differences between himself and Trump, because if he focused on their similarities he’d have to come to terms with his numerous failures. Like Trump, Romney was a businessman and a prominent figure in the American public sphere throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Both had established reputations as competitive, business-minded men and both were portrayed by liberals as ruthless, transactional figures. But of the two men, only one has achieved real results for America.
By criticizing Trump and focusing on their perceived differences, Romney avoids accepting that Donald J. Trump did what he could never do. As the president himself put it in a tweet responding to the op-ed, “I won big and he didn’t.”
Rather than wasting his time trying to build the never-Trump Republican faction in Congress or become some sort of #Resistance icon, Sen. Mitt Romney should spend his time focusing on policy objectives, specifically on issues like border security.
Picking a fight with his own party’s president exposed Mitt Romney’s political weakness and lack of foresight more than anything else. While the mainstream media has already lionized the Utah senator for his commentary, portraying it as heroic and virtuous, it’s important that the rest of America recognizes Romney’s flaccid op-ed for what it really is: the gripes of a sore loser.
Great article! Do I dare mention that Romney’s Mormanism may be the cause of his attacks on the President?
Anyone who would believe that Gods church went underground for many years has got to have something wrong with his thinking!
It also was known that the man w ho said he was chosen to bring it forward was cheating on his wife and didn’t want to give up his girl friend. AND I heard of a woman who left that “faith” that said “don’t brlieve they don’t practise yet having multiple wives. “They keep them in separate cities so the law doesn’t know. it is against the law in the US!!!
Romney vowed he was faithful to his one wife!
But he still clung to a stupid faith!
He is a corrupt politician and you dummies voted him in you better Wake or you will be living like other communist countries he made a mess in Massachusetts he made a mess running for president thank God he lost because he is a democratic likes to pretend he is an American he is not even puts his money in other countries why don’t you people investigate these criminals that is exactly what they are CRIMINALS
Am very disappointed in Mitt Romney. President Trump is not perfect, let those who are without sin cast the first stone. David was many things, including an adulterer and a murderer, yet the Lord made him one of the greatest Kings of his time. President Trump was not my first choice, Mitt Romney was, but although The President does not have the gift of gab or eloquence, he works very hard and has done much in only not quite two years. We should all get behind him and support him and see what he can do with all our support. He just may make America great again! If not, we can all use the democratic process and vote him out.
Some of the immature idiots just voted into Congress will tear this Nation down. And, those who feel they have the right to disrespect the Office of The President with foul/vulgar language and/or try to impose their religious culture on the rest of us, should go back to their countries and riot and protest there for equality for women, freedom of speech, etc. They need to assimilate to become American Citizens!! We do not want them here trying to impose their cultures on us!! We were founded on Judeo/Christian Values. That is why we have been such a Great Nation. The United States is not perfect, but in only 240 short years, we continue to improve and are still the Nation everyone wants to immigrate to. All other countries are thousands of years old and still oppressing, mistreating, and murdering their own people.
All Leftist Democrats are so afraid that President Trump WILL drain the Swamp of which the Deep State Establishment is a part of. Am so disappointed in the FBI/DOJ which we all trusted at one time. They at the top are all corrupt! They are all Obstructionists.
Regarding a Border Wall, it is only common sense! The President is not asking for anything unreasonable! We need Border Security for our National Security. Many, if not all, of our families are affected in one way or another by the drugs pouring into our Country and the associated crimes. The poor immigrants are also exploited by their own people prior to getting to the Border and once they settle into their own communities here in the United States. Chuck Schummer/Nancy Pelosi, et al, are okay with spending billions of dollars aiding other countries which is doing no good, and spending billions of funds on killing the unborn through nine months of development to birth, but will not compromise with The President for only $5.9 billion to secure our Border with a Wall. Something just does not add up!!! They are the one acting like children just because they do not like him??? Also, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, and others live in million-dollar mansions with walls and have the nerve to think they can speak for us!! They do not know how it is to live from paycheck to paycheck, or struggle to make ends meet!! They have a lot of nerve to talk impeachment of one of our best Presidents who is not collecting a salary as President, who was doing just fine without the daily headache of being President and the continual daily attacks from the fake news media!!
This is not an example of a Godly man!
Mitt please shut your mouth & sit down, why not do something constructive? You are a Sore Loser.
We sent you back to work write a bill for the Senate to consider, don’t bad mouth the President. If you were half the man Pres. Trump is you would be working on a bill of $ 29,000,000,000 to fun the wall. Then go to other Senators & get other Senators to go along & vote for it!
Unfortunately I voted for Romney several years ago and now I realize what a weak candidate he was. He is more attuned to fighting with Trump than he he for our country. He is not looking toward a more positive schema but focused on negative talking points. I feel sorry for him.
AMAC suggestion to fix social security is very complex. Why not just raise the early retirement age to 64 or 65? I would also suggest means testing the benefit. Maybe those making over $200,000 get nothing.
He’s a smart a** punk boy!
Once again, Mit-Rom never fails to disappoint.
I voted for him, was happy when he won, and then he spoke… Cutting down the President that I voted for was a stab in the back… Romney isn’t the man I thought I voted for… I won’t vote for his re-election if he doesn’t act like a Republican and help clean up the corruption in Government…
It is interesting to me that Romney has picked up the man-made climate-change talking point, that he has joined the never-Trump crowd and that, after CRUSHING Obama in their first debate he, figuratively speaking, disappeared. ALL of these things align beautifully with the bankster/globalist/elitist crowd.
Hillary-Romney ticket 2020
The sore loser party..
I voted for Romney but would never vote for him again. I think his statements about Pres. Trump just prove he is product of an assassin cult.
Who could be deeper in the SWAMP than Romney. We have a scant chance to save the country and the RINO’s like him sabotage saving the country.
Awesome truth
what he said is pure trash he is still mad over not being Elected you can’t believe a word he says, he is only trying to feather his own nest.
Romney is a “mealy mouth do gooder” with no guts. That’s why he was rejected as President. We need a President (like Trump) who isn’t afraid to get out there and work for the people not a political party. I support Trump 100% and encourage true patriotic Americans to do the same. BUILD THE WALL!!
In the dictionary under “ingrate” there should be a picture of Romney, a back stabbing fraud.
Romney is a disgusting disappointment. McCain 2.0. Where has America gone?
Muslims in Congress .. RINO’s .. trading democracy/capitalism for socialism ..
Strategically and with great purpose – the Education system has dummied down it’s citizens so they believe the lies of the left and are too stupid to know any different. They buy into the entitlement lie of big government .. and before you know it .. they believe they are owed everything for free. The more ignorant a country’s people are – the more power the government has to enslave them.
So Sad. WAKE UP AMERICA.
The Freezing Senior, I agree with you so no point in restating it. Wish these left leaning politicians masquerading as a Republican would run on the Democratic ticket as that is really how they lean. McCain and Flake in the last 3 years are an embarassment to the GOP and especially AZ. How can one say that McCain paid attention to his constituency when he was the last vote on repeal of the ACA and he gleefully came in late, and walked down the aisle, gleefully making the “down” thumb movement, like he did something grand. My question is: Did he EVER read the ACA legislation or at least his staff read it and have discussions about it before the vote was called or did he do what Nancy Pelosi shout out they had to vote it in before they could find out all that it had . Apparently that is what all of them did. Someone tell me one person in Congress state that they read the whole thing and still voted “YES”.
I’m disappointed in Romney. What can he possibly gain from these tactics? You dont have to like the President to support him. I know how much I disliked Obama but never wished him any harm. Civilized behavior is expected in politics but I have seen little of it lately. My heart aches for my America.
He is just so jealous of our President. Romney is another Rich spoiled BRAT. Can’t take that he is a loser an Donald J. Trump is a winner.
Ask Romney’s Daddy. He is so mad because Potus WON.
Mitt Romney is a bitter loser! He is a boy trying to play a big boy game with the pro – the president is a master!
One more comment: Dogs are one of God’s innocent created creatures. Adult human beings are not innocent. Short-sighted people seem to make up the democratic party (as I was once a “do-gooder” that did didn’t know much, but knew I had a “good heart”).
Anyone know where the phrase . . . . “don’t confuse me with facts . . . . my minds made up!” comes from? And who does it apply to?
There are “some dogs” that will chew on “little bones” while barking out loud, and others that will deal with “bigger bones” . . . like the WALL.
WAKEUP. AMERICA before to late!!!
We are looking off the cliff now!!!
Can’t you see…?
Highly political moves to be made to run for presidential 2020 election. Self serving jerk.
More in American Republican establishment interference moves to discredit trumps direction and get back to destroy America for global direction ruled by elite like himself. Rid of nation laws.
Hopefully we have not replaced RINO McCain with Romney. His action is a perfect example of why Republicans can’t seem to get things done. Democrats behave in public as one, even if in private they disagree. Republicans are always airing their disagreements in public.
Out with Flake, in with Romney…Great.
May I put it this way, I think so much of the turkey, that if he was on fire- I would not piss on him to put him out.
I’m sure Romney would have been a better President than Obama, but we didn’t hear anything about bad policies from him during Obama’s presidency. Instead he chooses to condemn the President of his own party, and in doing so is alienating previous supporters. If he is grooming himself to run against Trump in 2020 I think he is delusional that people are just waiting with baited breath to elect him. It is a mystery to just about everyone why he chose to write such a scathing essay before he was even sworn in as a Senator. What was he trying to prove, that he knows better than the people who elected Trump? So disappointing to see that a man of supposed good character could bring himself to vent his anger and frustration in a public forum. It sounds more like Hillary Clinton, being a bad loser, trying to convince people that he is far superior to the current President. Maybe the two of them could run as a team in 2020 to show just how superior they are.
I would never vote for Mitt. He is two faced.
President Trump is exactly the President we need at this time. A man without debtors who can control him. He is proving that political correctness just won’t get the job done and also that their is an established order on both sides of the political spectrum. The established “Elite” because that is what they think they are, are better than all of us but we all dress ourselves the same way. They are no better than anyone else, we all well die one day and what we think we have accomplished here will remain here, both the good and the bad. It is plain that Mitt Romney doesn’t have the courage to go against the establishment or he would have won the first debate against Obama. I’m glad we have a Republican senator but I’m sorry, he isn’t going to do us much good in the Senate I don’t think.
I am so sick of Washington. We the people elected Donald Trump to be our President. This idea of Congress taking sides is ridiculous. The President of the United states is everyone’s President not just the right or the left. This stupid arguing needs to stop. This is not a street fight, it is our country, every last one of us. All elected officials need to support our President and set an example for all the people. If you don’t want to support your President and My President then get out of Washington DC and find a job that you can do.
When are these politicians going to realize that THAT is the reason Trump was elected. Because he is NOT a politician. I find that very comforting for a friggin’ change. I’ve been so sick of politicians for almost 30 years.
Romney, I can t believe I voted for you. Loser andbackstabber.
Mitt Romney, sad to say, is a spineless has-been. He had numerous opportunities during his debates with Obama to hold Obama’s feet to the fire concerning various issues, (like Benghazi) and chickened out. He’s the last person who should question President Trump’s character. Be quiet, Romney!!!
Romney is like playing wack-a-mole. We have to put up with six years of his cry baby noise.
Much like McCain and others have done, Romney has sold out. Why, we don’t know, but that matters not – he has sold out.
A call in on radio from Utah stated the people do not like Romney. He lives in a prestigious area and does not work for the everyday person of Utah. I think his behavior is like a school boy bully trying to show his strength, and all he did was show how his views flip-flop with he latest information. I do not trust him.
President trump is tje best present ever! Strongest, smartest, carimg about the people pf tje USA amd gave up his womderful life to lead us imto victory for all! Now rommey, he is a ninny, who acts
Ike a spoiled child! He is selfish, not smart enough to know , he is nver on the right track! He should of quite when he lost the first time! What a disappoimtment, tratior , disruptor, amd jealous that he didnt get to be president!! To bad, so sad!
Typical of his type. One if the reasons Trump is in the Oval Office is because he is the exact opposite of the Romney type weenie. We have been in need of a man or woman who tells it like it is, and doesn’t care who likes or doesn’t like it.
Romney is a Mormon who reads the Book of Mormon and the “other scriptures”. He needs to read the Bible more where it says “he whom is without sin cast the first stone”. He tried for the Presidential seat and failed. He needs to get behind his party and show support for what Trump is trying to do. Someone got into the White House and is working very hard to make a great change in this crumbling country. What a petty, little man he is.
Talk about 2 faced, … Romney is up to about 8 faces so far, and counting. Truly a worthless Democrap.
President Trump cares about America, the American people and our security, HOW DARE HE ! (sarcasm off)
I think if Romney truly wants to help move the country forward, he will put aside his “sour grapes” and get to work. Work with President Trump. He was elected president, not anyone else. Mr. Romney, “Do what you were elected to do. Its not about you!”
President Trump is trying to do against stiff opposition what HE was elected to do represent the people, safe guard the constitution and protect the people and this country.
That is a lot more than be said of the democrats who wish and have created a platform to do the opposite.
But, Mitt was ok with Trump’s support and was, at least we think he was, willing to accept the position, if offered, of Secretary of State under President Trump. Please, don’t start out with these types of comments….we just got rid of Jeff Flake, we DON’T NEED A REPLACEMENT, THANK YOU.
He’s a freaking milk toast. God never let him get close to the oval office.
Absolutely spot on. If Romney had half the balls Trump has he would have won his presidential bid, but he tried to play the political game instead of standing up for the mainstream people of this country. I vote for Romney because he was the better of the two options at the time, but after this op-ed I wish I had voted for the Libertarian candidate instead.