Is this a crack in the wall of Republican Trump sycophancy? First and formost we had Republican member of the House Justin Amash who made waves Saturday when he said in a series of tweets that he had concluded President Donald Trump committed "impeachable conduct" and accused Attorney General William Barr of intentionally misleading the public.
He has been credited among MSNBC pundits with spurring House Democrats with reaching what may be the critical mass needed to persuade Nancy Pelosi to bless the start of a House impeachment inquiry.
The only other Republican member of Congress to break ranks with Trump after Amash made his statement was Sen. Mitt Romney, albeit in a milqtoast manner saying: “My own view is that Justin Amash has reached a different conclusion than I have. I respect him. I think it’s a courageous statement. But I believe that to make a case for obstruction of justice, you just don’t have the elements that are evidenced in this document." Ref.
Today we have Romney and another Republican speaking out against Trump on another matter, the expected pardon of soldiers who committed war crimes, albeit not nearly with the strong words used by Amash on the impeachment issue.
“I think it’s a terrible idea to pardon someone who is legitimately convicted of committing war crimes. It’s unthinkable,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told HuffPost when asked about the New York Times report.
Using even milder words than Romney, HuffPost reports that Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa):
… said she “would have some issues” about the potential pardons when asked about the Times report.
“I just want to make sure we’re doing the right thing for servicemembers as well,” added Ernst, an Army National Guard combat veteran who served in Iraq.
Amash may go down in history as the most courageous congressional Republican to stand up to Trump. However, Romney and Ernst may end up in the history books too. Even though their defiance of Trump may be more risky because Mitch McConnell has direct power over them what with being able to assign committees may look medium to mild there may be a method behind what may seem like madness to other Republicans.
They all could be opening a door to position themselves to either primary a battered and belaguered Trump or, if he isn’t running, to run for president themselves.
Keep an eye on Romney.
So far the other Republican to announce for 2020 is former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, but he doesn’t have a national profile.
See if Romney takes other stands against Trump. He is so far the strongest potential contender who may run against Trump in a primary, and he could be a formidable opponent for Democrats in 2020 if he ended up running for president.