Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said he did not believe President Donald Trump’s actions as laid out in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report rise to the level of impeachment, but the president does not exhibit the “best qualities of human character.”
Host Jake Tapper asked if Trump has “disgraced the office of the president.”
Romney said, “I think a number of things were unfortunate and distressing. Clearly the number of times there were items of dishonesty, misleading the American public and media are things you would not be want to see from the highest office in the land.”
He continued, “Abuse of power is at a whole other level, which suggests impeachment. I think in part one of the things it’s difficult in order to make a case for obstruction of justice or impeachment, not an underlying crime, I think it’s difficult to put together an effective case to prosecute for those crimes.”
He added, “I’ve made it clear I will support the president on policies where we agree. I’ll disagree with him openly if there’s something I think is wrong for the country or for my state. But I think he could substantially improve his game when it comes to helping shape the character of the country. I think young people, as well as people around the world, look at the president of the United States and say, does he exhibit the kind of qualities we would want to emulate? And those are qualities of humility, of honesty, integrity, and those are things where I think there’s been some call where the president has distanced himself from some of the best qualities of the human character.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN