A trio of Republican senators this week expressed displeasure with Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) over his repeated criticism of President Donald Trump.
Romney, one of Congress’s most vocal critics of the administration, is taking fire from President Trump and his allies for trashing the decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria and the president’s call for Ukraine and China to investigate allegations of corruption against former Vice President and 2020 White House contender Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
Speaking to The Hill, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) hit Romney for his repeated attack on the president and suggested his negativity steems from lingering feelings about his loss to President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election.
“Because one election didn’t turn out the way that Mitt wanted it to turn out… he’s critical of the president,” said Inhofe, before adding, “I’m not pleased with it.”
Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) compared Romney to an armchair quarterback, who jeers football players when the going gets tough.
“It’s awfully easy to sit in the stands and be critical of the people on the field,” Perdue told reporters on Tuesday. “We’re all quite capable of having a voice.”
“That’s his own opinion. I disagree with it strongly,” the Georgia Republican said of his colleague’s frequent attacks on President Trump.
Further, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), another ally of the administration, said this week that Romney’s critism is “not helping” President Trump.
During a Monday Cabinet meeting, President Trump urged Republicans on Capitol Hill to ratchet up their defense of him with respect to the closed-door impeachment inquiry and called out Romney for playing into the House Deemocrats’ political hands.
The president argued the Democrats are “vicious” and “stick together,” while they “don’t have Mitt Romney in their midst.”
Not only do a handful of Republican senators wish Romney would tapper down his criticism of President Trump, but it appears voters in feel the same way.
According to Wednesday’s Rasmussen’s national telephone and online poll, 63 percent of likely Republican voters said the party should be more like President Trump, while 30 percent believe it should be like Romney.
The survey’s findings come after Romney received mockery after it was revealed that the Utah Republican has a secret Twitter account that he used to defend himself from criticism. When asked by The Atlantic whether the account — named “Pierre Delecto” — was his, the lawmaker simply replied, “C’est moi,” which is French for, “it’s me.”
“I’m embarrassed to be called a lurker. I’ve been called a lot of things, but being called a lurker is a new low,” he told Axios of the account.