The Utah Republican Party’s resolution to censure Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) for his votes to convict former President Trump failed during the party’s organizing convention after the senator was booed at the event.
The vote narrowly failed 711-798, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Romney was greeted with a chorus of boos by the more than 2,100 Republican delegates that attended the party’s state convention.
“Now you know me as a person who says what he thinks, and I don’t hide the fact that I wasn’t a fan of our last President’s character issues,” Romney told the crowd.
Audience members audibly booed Romney in response, prompting the senator to attempt to deflect the boos from the audience by asking: “Aren’t you embarrassed?,” before stopping his speech.
Outgoing party chair Derek Brown interjected by urging delegates to “show respect” for the senator.
“So yeah I understand that there are a few folks who don’t like me very much and I’m sorry about that but I express my mind as I believe is right and I follow my conscience as I believe is right,” Romney said after Brown left the podium, before the senator stressed that he is “not a fan” of President Biden’s policies.
The resolution to censure Romney was submitted by Don Guymon, a party delegate from Davis County, who espoused bogus conspiracy theories about Biden and the President’s family while also alleging that the senator’s public criticisms of Trump “not only hurt President Trump’s reelection but hurt other Republicans on the ballot,” according to CNN.
Unlike Romney, Trump loyalist Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) drew a standing ovation as he took the podium, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Romney was among the handful of Republican senators who voted to convict Trump for “incitement of insurrection,” and faced censure resolutions by Republicans in their states in the aftermath.
During remarks at CPAC in February, Trump called out Republicans who dared to vote in favor of his impeachment, which included Romney.
“The Democrats don’t have grand standards like Mitt Romney, little Ben Sasse, Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Pat Toomey,” Trump said during his speech at CPAC. “And in the House: Tom Rice, Adam Kinzinger, Dan Newhouse, Anthony Gonzalez — that’s another beauty — Fred Upton, Jamie Herrera Beutler, Peter Meier, John Katko, David Valadao, and the warmonger — a person that loves seeing our troops fighting — Liz Cheney.”
