During the Utah Republican Party’s convention in 2021, Romney faced an unexpected level of anger and hostility that left him shaken. He expressed concern over the presence of armed individuals among his own constituents in Utah. In response to the events of January 6th, Romney allocated $5,000 per day for security to protect his family.
However, rather than using his impending retirement as an opportunity to raise awareness about the dangers of a right-wing movement that frequently resorts to violence, Romney is not defecting from the Republican Party. Instead, by emphasizing his age, he positions himself as impartial and suggests that both parties share equal blame for the state of the country. While Romney has demonstrated more decency and courage in standing against Trump compared to most of his colleagues, he holds back in this instance.
There is a Hamlet-like quality to Romney’s indecisiveness. He aims to protect the party his father, George Romney, belonged to – the liberal Republicans. However, he often hesitates to confront the corrupt interloper who has taken control. During the 2016 campaign, Romney delivered a speech warning about the potential “trickle-down racism” that a Trump presidency could bring, which echoed his father’s refusal to endorse Barry Goldwater in 1964 due to Goldwater’s opposition to the Civil Rights Act. However, as reported by ABC News here, Romney did not actively discourage others from voting for Trump.
It is possible that if Republican leaders had taken swift action in 2016, they could have prevented Trump from gaining a messianic grip over the party’s base. However, Romney, like other establishment Republicans, either underestimated Trump’s autocratic threat or overestimated their party’s commitment to patriotism. This is a mistake he would repeat.
After Trump’s election, Romney believed he could rescue the Republican Party from within by vying for the position of secretary of state under Trump, sacrificing his own dignity. Once in the Senate, he attempted to navigate a path for post-Trump conservatism while intentionally minimizing his focus on Trump himself. While he pledged to speak out against Trump’s most egregious actions, he made it clear in The Washington Post here that he would not comment on every tweet or fault. For this purpose, he used a pseudonymous Twitter account known as Pierre Delecto, where he could express his disapproval of Trump’s moral shortcomings and apparent unfitness for office.
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