Incoming Sen. Mitt Romney threw a verbal grenade ahead of his official arrival in Washington as the newest Senator from Utah on Tuesday night, penning an op-ed blasting President Trump’s character.
In the Washington Post op-ed, Romney wrote that Trump’s character is lacking.
On Wednesday morning, President Trump, who endorsed Romney in the 2018 midterms, took to Twitter to hit back at Romney. Trump said he hopes Romney is not “a Jeff Flake,” the former Arizona Senator who has been critical of Trump. He also mocked Romney’s loss in the 2012 presidential election and hoped that Romney would be a “team player” in Washington.
Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast! Question will be, is he a Flake? I hope not. Would much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful. I won big, and he didn’t. He should be happy for all Republicans. Be a TEAM player & WIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2019
Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, also hit Romney for his failed 2012 presidential bid in a misspelled Twitter post. “Jealously (sic) is a drink best served warm,” wrote Parscale.
The truth is @MittRomney lacked the ability to save this nation. @realDonaldTrump has saved it. Jealously is a drink best served warm and Romney just proved it. So sad, I wish everyone had the courage @realDonaldTrump had. https://t.co/mbxoTqbSX6
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) January 2, 2019
The Wednesday morning cable news programs expectedly split along partisan lines. Fox News commentator Dan Bongino slammed Romney as a “sell out” and a “fake.”
“You want to talk about character, you big phony fraud fake? You should have never taken that endorsement if this is how you felt. This guy is a disgrace and an embarrassment,” said Bongino.
On MSNBC, Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski said Romney is going to bring a dose of reality for Trump.
“I have a feeling Mitt Romney is going to bring in a whole new dose of reality for this president. Mitt Romney is making it very clear he’s going to be much more than a thorn in President Trump’s side,” she said.
UPDATE WITH MORE REACTION:
Daily chat show “The View” decided to get in on the Romney vs. Trump feud Wednesday morning. Whoopi Goldberg was skeptical of Romney’s criticism saying, “Mitt, why did you accept the guy’s endorsement when you were running for Senate if that’s how you felt?”
Co-host Sunny Hostin was much more blunt about Romney, calling him a “shapeshifter” for changing his position on issues.
On MSNBC, political science professor Jason Johnson slammed Romney, saying his criticism of Trump was “sour grapes.”
“Given how many times he was apparently kissing Donald Trump’s butt in order to get job, some of this sounds like sour grapes,” said Johnson.
Conservative commentator Bill Kristol, who has been critical of Trump since he entered the political fray in 2016, said Romney’s criticism opens the doors for others to start voicing their problems with Trump.
“Mitt Romney has legitimized the notion that the Republican Party can do better in 2020 than Donald Trump,” said Kristol.
