Mitt Romney was the only Senator who broke party lines to convict President Trump of abuse of power during Wednesday afternoon’s Senate impeachment trial vote. The Utah Republican didn’t convict him for the other charge against Trump—obstruction of Congress—but his lil’ protest vote, though inconsequential, was enough to draw ire from his fellow Republicans and nauseating amounts of praise from Democrats.
The hashtag #MittRomneyIsMyHero is already trending.
Romney has a semblance of a spine. Fantastic. Didn’t make much of a difference, and it wasn’t that big of a political risk—especially considering Utah’s general animus toward Trump and the fact that Romney not up for re-election in fall—but it was admirable. And, importantly, the White House was apparently caught off guard by Romney’s decision, suddenly barring press from a meeting between Trump and Venezuelan leader Juan Guaido shortly after the news broke. (The White House claims the timing was unrelated.)
However, great American hero, Romney is not. Democrats fall into this trap every time a Republican happens to do the right thing with one solitary Senate vote, only to fall right back in with their goon squad and vote along party lines at the next available opportunity.
Romney isn’t the worst the Republican Party has to offer, not by a long shot. But maybe, just maybe, Romney’s moment of moral clarity isn’t worth fawning over. He didn’t even vote to convict on both counts. Come on, now.
Anyway, never forget:
Hey, we have some more results from the cursed Iowa caucuses:
With 86 percent reporting, Pete Buttigieg maintains a narrow delegate lead over Bernie Sanders. How that will be allocated has yet to be determined. Maybe when we get the full results, this guessing game bullshit will finally come to an end.
- Ivanka Trump accidentally summoned BTS fans when she used the #BTS hashtag to show off a behind the scenes photo from the State of the Union. The BTS Army kindly told her to fuck off.
- Did you notice Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence react to some audience commotion during the State of the Union address? That was in response to Parkland dad Fred Guttenberg yelling at President Trump after he said he would protect the Second Amendment. Guttenberg’s 14-year-old daughter was killed during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018. [People]
- Donald Trump Jr. is acting very mature in response to Romney’s vote. Here’s a lovely little meme he posted on his Instagram account
- Hailey Bieber is feelin’ the Bern. [Elle]