After Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) voted to impeach President Trump, the Utah Republican Party is considering three different resolutions in response, including one which calls upon the lawmaker to “immediately resign,” according to Utah’s KUTV.
Steven Clark, chair of the Sanpete County GOP, drafted the non-binding resolution calling for Romney to step down immediately, claiming the lawmaker has had a “vendetta” against Trump.
“I feel like Mitt Romney has betrayed the party, betrayed the voters,” Clark said. “I think he’s had a vendetta against Trump from the beginning. I think his actions have done significant damage to the party.”
The other two resolutions being considered include one expressing support for Trump’s acquittal and another supporting legislation to recall a U.S. senator.
GOP activist Brandon Beckham, who previously called for the party to censure Romney, drafted language for the resolution supporting Trump’s acquittal and said, “We want to express our disapproval of that vote.”
Beckham wants the GOP to declare it “strongly disagrees with the vote cast,” and urge “all Utah elected Republicans to work with President Trump to implement the conservative policies of the America First agenda that are helping our country succeed.”
Romney’s vote enraged many in the Republican Party, with Donald Trump Jr. calling for his expulsion from the GOP.
“Mitt Romney is forever bitter that he will never be POTUS. He was too weak to beat the Democrats then so he’s joining them now. He’s now officially a member of the resistance & should be expelled from the @GOP,” Trump Jr. wrote on Twitter.
A recent Rasmussen Reports survey has found many Republicans do not approve of Romney (64 percent) with a great deal wishing to see him expelled from the party (39 percent). Only 43 percent disagree, and do not want to see him pushed out of the GOP.
“Mitt Romney was the only Republican senator who voted guilty last week on one of the impeachment counts brought against President Trump by House Democrats. Many Republicans were furious at Romney, and a sizable number of GOP voters are ready to throw him out of the party,” writes Rasmussen.
The report also found that 63 percent of Republican voters want the party to be “more like Trump” while 30 percent wish to see it evolve to be more like Romney.
In an interview about his vote, Romney invoked his faith, telling KSL.com, “Well, I took my responsibility exactly as the Constitution defines it and as the oath I took requires it. Which is that I was sworn before God to apply impartial justice as a Senate juror.”
“I agonized over the responsibility that ultimately would come my way,” Romney said. “I hoped beyond hope that I would not have to find him guilty of what had been alleged.”
Hat tip: Daily Caller
