Mitt Romney, the only Republican Senator who voted in favor of removing President Trump from office during the impeachment trial, is facing backlash which has caused him to be isolated and ostracized by his Republican Party.
As long as President Trump is in office, and perhaps long after that, Romney will be remembered as the lone Senate Republican who voted to remove a president of his own party. In fact, many say that Romney will never be forgiven for his over-dramatic vote that was cast to convict Trump on abuse of power during the impeachment trial.
It seems like there are not too many that are happy with Romney’s decision to vote against his party to impeach the president. In addition to primary challenges, the wrath of Trump, all of his disappointed supporters in his own home state, and even Romney’s own family have issue with his actions during the trial.
“In a political sense, he is ostracized. He is excommunicated. He has lost all credibility. He should hire lots of security guards — I don’t wish him any physical harm, but people are furious!” said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union.
When asked whether Romney can be forgiven by Republicans, Schlapp answered sternly: “Never.” Ironically, even though Romney won the CPAC straw poll in 2012, he was recently disinvited from the CPAC convention this month by Schlapp due to his disloyalty to the president and the party.
Romney’s personal and political life just changed with the cast of a single guilty vote by the Senator from Utah. He acknowledged this fact in a recent interview with Fox News, saying he expects “significant” consequences for his impeachment trial decision.
“Yeah, it’s going to get very lonely,” he told Fox News. “And again, the consequences are significant. … They’re enough that it made this a very difficult process for me. There has not been a morning since this process began that I’ve slept beyond 4:00 a.m.”
Notable, is the fact that Utah has created legislation in an effort to allow voters to recall their senators. Although the writer of the bill said the legislation was not directed specifically at Romney, the bill has suddenly seen renewed increased interest since Romney cast the recent impeachment vote.
The bill, which is sponsored by GOP Utah state Rep. Tim Quinn, would create a new process by which a recall vote would be put on the ballot once it was successfully petitioned by voters. According to Quinn, he has been flooded with phone calls and emails this week that are “100 percent positive to the bill.”
And while the American Conservative Union supports the recall legislation, Schlapp said Romney should do Utah voters a favor and just resign, even though Romney is not up for reelection until 2024.
“That would be the honorable thing [to do],” Schlapp told Fox News.
Trump supporters think that Romney will pay for his disloyalty.
Corey Lewandowski, Former Trump campaign manager who attended the impeachment vote, said Romney will be a “one-term senator.”
Dan Eberhart, a GOP fundraiser, said Romney’s vote will certainly present a primary challenge.
“Romney has been waiting to thumb his nose at Trump in the highest-profile way since his arrival in the Senate,” Eberhart said. “Romney is now the first senator in history to convict a president of his own party. That’s going to have a lasting impact on how he’s seen within the Republican Party.”
