Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney became the first, and for a time, the only senator in U.S. history to vote to convictĀ an impeached president of his own party. That vote followed the first impeachment of President Donald Trump over the allegation that he solicited Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 presidential election.
RomneyĀ also voted to convictĀ Trump after the presidentāsĀ second impeachmentĀ over his alleged incitement of an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. This time, Romney joined six other Republican senators.
During the 2016 presidential primary, Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, in a speech eviscerated Trumpās character and predicted economic and foreign policy disaster should Trump become president.
RomneyĀ said: āLet me put it plainly, if we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished. ā¦ If Donald Trumpās plans were ever implemented, the country would sink into a prolonged recession. ā¦ But wait, you say, isnāt he a huge business success that knows what heās talking about? No, he isnāt.
āHis bankruptcies have crushed small businesses and the men and women who worked for them. He inherited his business; he didnāt create it. ā¦ Trumpās bombast is already alarming our allies and fueling the enmity of our enemies ā¦
āDonald Trump tells us that he is very, very smart. Iām afraid that when it comes to foreign policy he is very, very not smart.
āI am far from the first to conclude that Donald Trump lacks the temperamentĀ be president. ā¦ Think of Donald Trumpās personal qualities, the bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third-grade theatrics. We have long referred to him as āThe Donald.ā He is the only person in America to whom we have added an article before his name. It wasnāt because he had attributes we admired ā¦
āThere are a number of people who claim that Mr. Trump is a con man, a fake. There is indeed evidence of that. ā¦ He applauds the prospect of twisting the Constitution to limit First Amendment freedom of the press. This is the very brand of anger that has led other nations into the abyss.
āHereās what I know. Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. Heās playing the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat.
āHis domestic policies would lead to recession. His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president. And his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill.ā
That was so then.
In Romneyās recent post-presidential election CNN appearance, he sangĀ a strikingly different tune:
ā won overwhelmingly. He said what he was going to do, and thatās what heās doing.
āI mean, people are saying, oh, I donāt like this appointment or this policy that heās talking about.
āBut those are the things he said he was going to do when he ran. So, you canāt complain about someone who does what he said he was going to do.
āAnd I agree with him on a lot of policy fronts. I disagree with him on some things. But itās like, OK, give him a chance to do what he said heās going to do and see how it works outā¦
āMAGA is the Republican Party, and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today. And if you were to ask me who the nominee will be in 2028, I think itāll be J.D. Vance, all right? Heās smart, well-spoken, part of the MAGA movement ā¦
āLook, the Republican Party has become the party of the working-class, middle-class voter. And youāve got to give Donald Trump credit for having done that, taken that away from the Democrats.ā
What a difference it makes when the man Romney excoriated in 2016 confounds the experts and stages a history-shattering political comeback; wins all seven swing states; wins the popular vote; leads a Republican takeover of the Senate; retains control of the House; and mops the floor with his Democrat opponent.
Welcome back, Mitt.
Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an āElderado,ā visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on X @larryelder. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage atĀ www.creators.com.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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