‘A lot of us feel that it’s sort of an embarrassment to our party…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Utah Republicans introduced a resolution this week to censure Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, for his vote to impeach President Donald Trump.
The resolution, proposed by state Rep. Phil Lyman, would formally censure Romney for being the only Republican to cast a vote against Trump. A similar resolution, introduced in the GOP State Central Committee, would censure Romney for abandoning the president “despite zero evidence of a federal crime committed or any wrongdoing that rises to the level of removal of office.”
The resolution also reminds the state that Romney gladly “accepted President Trump’s endorsement and expressed his support for President Trump” when he ran for Senate.
I have officially submitted a resolution for the Utah GOP State Central Committee to formally censure Senator @MittRomney for his vote to remove @realDonaldTrump. #Trump2020 #ImpeachmentTrialSham #DonaldTrump #AcquittedForever pic.twitter.com/aFel6muxWn
— Brandon Beckham (@BrandonBeckham) February 8, 2020
The censure would do nothing but express “severe disapproval” for Romney if the Utah Republican Party passes it, said Brandon Beckham, a member of the Utah GOP’s State Central Committee. But it still allows Utah Republicans to respond to Romney’s “betrayal,” he told the Salt Lake Tribune.
“A lot of us feel that it’s sort of an embarrassment to our party,” he said.
But not everyone in the Utah GOP support the move. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has made it clear he will not support a censure vote against Romney, arguing that it “would be just a mistake to go down that road.”
Romney reportedly met with state leaders this week, and after the “tense” meeting, Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson and state Senate President Stuart Adams announced they would support Lyman’s resolution “offering tribute” to Trump.
“We’re not censuring him for voting his conscience. We’re censuring him for the positions that he’s taken through this whole process,” Lyman said. “And to send a message that we want to have good relationships with the White House, we want to have good relationships with President Trump.”