‘I would like to be able to hear from John Bolton…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has lost support among Republicans and independents in his home state because of his support for impeachment trial witnesses, according to a new poll.
A Morning Consult survey found that support for Romney significantly dropped after he said he’d like to hear from former national security adviser John Bolton during the Senate’s impeachment trial.
Before Romney’s impeachment comments, 65% of Utah Republicans supported him. Afterward, that number sank to 57%.
Support among independents also dropped 9%, the poll found.
Democratic voters, however, continue to support Romney. At least 46% of Democrats approved of Romney’s actions, which is 4% more than last quarter, according to Morning Consult.
Romney is one of the few moderate Republican senators who have signaled their support for additional witness testimony and evidence.
Romney called President Donald Trump’s phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy “troubling in the extreme,” and said Bolton’s testimony could help the Senate reach “a final judicial resolution of the still unanswered constitutional questions.”
“I would like to be able to hear from John Bolton,” Romney said earlier this month. “What the process is to make that happen, I don’t have an answer for you.”
A few other Republican senators have been working to secure Bolton’s testimony, too, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made it clear that he wants to conduct the trial quickly and efficiently.
The Senate will “put aside animal reflexes and animosity,” McConnell said, and “cooly consider” the charges made against Trump.
“There will be no haggling with the House over Senate procedure,” he said. “We will not cede our authority to try this impeachment. The House Democrats’ turn is over.”