Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) remains a lone voice in his party, calling the White House memo of President Donald Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “deeply troubling” on Wednesday.
While speaking at The Atlantic Festival in Washington, Romney added that while he’s not as focused on the “quid pro quo” nature of the call as others — whether Trump leveraged withheld foreign aid in exchange for Zelensky launching a political investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son — that dynamic would take it to “an entirely more extreme level.”
Romney calls WH call memo “deeply troubling” pic.twitter.com/NV4WRFrkOU
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) September 25, 2019
As explanation for why he is the only prominent Republican willing to speak out against Trump’s behavior, Romney said that it’s “natural” for the party in power to take the view that’s most “amenable” to them keeping that power. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), for one, has already backed off his initial stance demanding more information about the call, maintaining that the memo absolves the President.
Trump tweeted out a compilation of Romney losing the 2012 election as retribution for his pushback on Tuesday.