Mitt Romney just gave away how badly Donald Trump is circling the drain
Mitt Romney briefly tried to win us all over when he voted to convict and remove Donald Trump for his crimes. But since that time, Romney has mostly done Romney things, like taking pot shots at Nancy Pelosi, and trying to create a “both sides are the same” argument centered around Trump and Keith Olbermann of all people.
Romney gets no points for any of this; he had his chance to step up and be a leader, and instead he’s still just a “both sides” guy with nothing to say. But Romney is giving away today just how badly Trump is circling the drain. Romney is once again cheaply playing the “both sides” game, but he’s also making clear that it’s open season on Trump.
Romney released a bizarre statement condemning Donald Trump for his refusal to condemn the Q-anon lunatics. But then Romney suggested the Democrats are just as bad for not condemning “Antifa” (a group that doesn’t even exist) and “anarchists.” Romney then added that “As the parties rush down a rabbit hole, they may be opening a door to a political movement that could eventually eclipse both of them.”
It’s now more clear that Mitt Romney is planning to run for President in 2024 on a platform of ‘I stand for nothing, but at least I don’t belong to either side.’ This will get Romney nowhere, but he doesn’t seem to know that. In any case, the real upshot here isn’t Romney’s cowardly “both sides” nonsense. It’s that the usually cautious Romney now feels fully confident in kicking the carcass of Trump’s rotting reelection prospects.
Again, Romney gets zero points for this. In fact he gets negative points. His “both sides are the same” narrative is incredibly harmful to American political discourse. But it’s notable that Romney, Susan Collins, and Ben Sasse are all now hitting Trump in their own opportunistic and cowardly way. They think he’s toast. Let’s turn out to vote in droves and prove them right.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report