Some Utah Republicans want to disapprove of Mitt Romney for his vote to impeach

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Republicans in Utah who want to punish Romney for voting to condemn former President Donald Trump.

(AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite) Some Utah Republicans are trying to denounce Senator Mitt Romney for voting to condemn former President Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial. The proposal accuses Romney of being a “deep-state” agent and undermining Trump.

February 15, 2021, 7:08 PM

Updated: 9:30 PM

Some Utah Republicans are hoping to convict Senator Mitt Romney for voting to condemn former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial.

The motion, which is circulated on social media, says Romney failed to “represent the average conservative Utah Republican voter” and “misrepresent himself as a Republican,” when he ran.

It is unclear whether the motion of censure will be taken over by the Utah Republican Party or how many people have signed up so far.

The draft goes on to say that Romney “embarrassed the state of Utah” when he was the only Republican senator to vote to condemn Trump in his first impeachment trial. Romney had voted to remove Trump for abusing his power by pressuring Ukraine to open an investigation into then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

The censure then attacks Romney for opposing the attempt to declare Trump’s second impeachment unconstitutional since Trump was no longer in office and for having voted to call witnesses. It further berates Romney for joining six other Republicans to condemn Trump on Saturday. It takes two-thirds of the senators to remove a president, so Trump was acquitted. Utah Senator Mike Lee was one of the Republicans who voted for acquittal.

The censure motion concludes that Romney was “using his senatorial power and influence to undermine Trump” and claims that “Romney appears to be an agent for the Deep State Establishment.”

Evan McMullin, a former Republican who ran for president as an independent candidate in 2016, said he was stunned at the backlash against Romney from members of his own party.

Mitt has done more to defend the Constitution than any Congressional Republican in modern history. He serves the country and does more to defend freedom than anyone else, ”said McMullin. “We have to support him.”

McMullin, a frequent critic of Trump during his tenure, said Romney’s bravery should be celebrated, not condemned.

“There is a tremendous need and opportunity for Utah to take the lead in this. There are plenty of good Republicans in Utah who are committed to the fundamentals of our country, the very same kind of leadership that Mitt offers right now, ”said McMullin. This is not about Republicans, Democrats, or independents. It’s about putting the land and the constitution first. “

Utah GOP Chairman Derek Brown says he is aware of the censure motion, but has not seen it yet.

“I’ve said the best disapproval is at the polls,” said Brown, referring to 2024, when Romney would face re-election.

In 2020, Romney became the first U.S. senator in history to vote to remove a president of his own party from office during Trump’s initial impeachment trial. Following that vote, the Central Committee of the Utah Republican Party considered several proposals to punish Romney. Instead, the group passed a watered-down resolution praising Trump.

“There was not enough support to denounce Senator Romney a year ago,” said Brown. “The impact of these kinds of resolutions was minimal.”

The Utah GOP Central Committee won’t meet again until June, and Brown says he has more important issues to address as a party chairman.

“My focus is on retaining the people who joined the Utah Republican Party in the past year and reaching out to those who left the party to bring them back,” he said.

Opposition to Romney’s voice from some element of the Utah GOP is not limited to disapproval. Some pushed for an online petition calling on Romney to resign after the initial impeachment trial last year and it bubbled up again over the weekend.

Longtime GOP activist Janalee Tobias pushed the old petition away on Sunday, where it quickly gained traction in some corners of social media.

“This is the second time he (Romney) has betrayed the people of Utah,” Tobias said in a telephone interview Monday. “We assumed that since he was a Republican presidential candidate, he would be a staunch supporter of President Trump.”

According to FiveThirtyEight’s analysis, Romney voted with Trump’s agenda nearly 80% of the time. Despite that level of support, Romney’s 20% defection is too much for Tobias.

“Utah is a red state. We have chosen Mitt Romney to be part of the red team, ”she said. “Trump is the quarterback on the red team. Romney has decided to play for the blue team and he should step down.”

The Utah Republican Party released a statement on the impeachment vote on Monday, noting that both Romney and Lee have been criticized. “The differences between our own Utah Republicans show a diversity of thought, as opposed to the danger of a party fixated on ‘unanimity of thoughts’. There is power in our disagreements as a political party, and we look forward to every senator voting for the people of Utah. “

Seven Republican senators joined all 50 Democrats on Saturday to condemn Trump for inciting the mob that attacked the Capitol in an attempted uprising on Jan.6. Two of those Republicans have been formally reprimanded. Louisiana’s GOP convicted Senator Bill Cassidy Saturday and several Republican parties in Pennsylvania have rebuked Senator Patrick Toomey. North Carolina’s Richard Burr is facing disapproval from his state party on Monday.

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