Romney, Alone
If only his comments about the Mueller report had inspired some of his fellow Republicans.
I waited a few days before writing about the GOP reaction to the Mueller Report because, well, I have apparently learned nothing. Naively, I had hoped that Mitt Romneyās statement about dishonesty in the White House would jar, or at least jostle, some other consciences among his fellow Republicans.
In fact, all it did was to highlight (once again) how badly late-stage Trumpism has shrunken those consciences. What we got instead was the usual combination of foot-shuffling, denial, and silence.
On Monday, the Washington Postās Phillip Rucker suggested that āRomney is saying exactly what his Republican colleagues in the Senate believe but are afraid to say.ā But five days after the reportās release, Romney is still the only GOP senator to break with the ranks of GOP pusillanimity.
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said: "I think we all know who the President is, he has a brash demeanor, that's about all I can say."
Maineās Susan Collins thought the report offered an āunflattering portrayal of the president,ā while Ohio senator Rob Portman was only able to muster enough indignation to declare that the report had revealed ā a number of actions taken by the presidents or his associates that were inappropriate.ā [Emphasis added.]
And the rest? This video from Republicans for the Rule of Law captures the GOP silence (Disclosure: RRL is a project of Defending Democracy Together, and The Bulwark is a project of Defending Democracy Togetherās sister organization, the Defending Democracy Together Institute):
In contrast, Romneyās statement was pointed: The former GOP presidential candidate said that he was āsickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection by individuals in the highest office of the land, including the President. I am also appalled that, among other things, fellow citizens working in a campaign for president welcomed help from Russia.ā
But even Romney pulled his punches. āIt is good news,ā he wrote, āthat there was insufficient evidence to charge the President of the United States with having conspired with a foreign adversary or with having obstructed justice.ā
As Lawfareās Susan Hennessey noted, this was not quite right.
https://twitter.com/Susan_Hennessey/status/1119334182671519748
Even so, compared with his fellow Republicans (current Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and former Massachusetts Governor William Weld being notable exceptions), Romneyās comments amounted to a fiery philippic against the president.
So the reaction was predictable.
As usual, Trump himself set the tone, putting out a tweet mocking Romney for losing his 2012 race against Barack Obama, complete with a video of a defeated Romney.
Inevitably, Trumpās loyal court jester, Mike Huckabee chimed in:
Trumpās lawyer, Rudy Giuliani escalated the attack: āStop the bull. Stop this pious act that you werenāt trying to dig up dirt on people, putting dirt out on people,ā Giuliani said, without providing either evidence or context. āWhat a hypocrite.ā
And, naturally, Rush Limbaugh joined the scrum as well.
Rather than criticizing Trumpās behavior, he said, Romney should have been sickened by the Mueller report itself (weāve come a long way from āexonerationā) which Limbaugh said had been put together by the āsame people who accused Mitt Romney of being a despicable creep. The same people who claimed that he didnāt care when his employees died of cancer because Romney didnāt give āem health care.ā
Romney doesnāt even see what went on here because, as a member of the establishment, as a Republican, youāre supposed to take it when they dish this character assassination out at you. Like Romney took it. Romney let them lie about him in all these ways, and he still wants to be on their team, still wants to be on their side. Thatās whatās sickening, is that people in the Republican Party like Mitt Romney cannot even see the precariousness with them this nation came to being overturned by a bogus investigation that was actually a coup!
Notably, none of the attacks on Romneyās comments offer any substantive defense of Trump, nor do they even attempt to answer any of Romneyās points. In TrumpWorld all attacks are ad hominem, without even a feint at either facts or logic.
On the left, there were scattered expressions of support and even admiration, but they were overwhelmed by critics who tweeted out variations of āso what are you going to dooooo about it?ā And there were numerous references to Jeff Flake, who has become a meme of ineffective opposition.
All of this goes a long way to explaining the dynamics of the GOP in the age of Trump: Dissent is met with angry denunciation and mockery, with little in the way of even āstrange new respect,ā from the center-left. For most Republicans, breaking with Trump is simply not worth it.
So what we are left with is rationalization and silence.
Of course, weāve been here before. My very first piece for The Bulwark dealt with the blistering reaction of the Trumpist right to Romneyās earlier critique of Trump, his op -ed in the Washington Post raising questions about the presidentās character.
Here is where Romney has performed a useful service: He has exposed the extent to which the acceptance of Trumpās character hardened from tactical improvisation into habitāand this habit has now become full-blown intellectual justification.
This requires not just an alternative realityāone that ignores a lifetime of narcissism, deception, and dishonestyābut an inverted moral hierarchy in which Trumpās character isnāt just something to be apologized for, but is transubstantiated into something that is both necessary and beautiful. The release of the Mueller report reminds us again of the extent to which Republicans have adjusted their moral and ethical standards, at least in public.
So, once again Mitt Romney is a pretty lonely guy.
