Many Top Leaders Have Raised Their Righteous Indignation About Donald Trump’s Blatant Evils: Through the Years They Voiced Condemnation of Trump Before Reversing Course & Acquiescing to the “Chosen One,” as Trump Calls Himself
For 4 ugly years, we’ve seen GOP “leaders” criticize the guy in the White house. A number of lifelong Republican Utah officials who often cite their Mormon values have said Trump should definitely not be president. But their concerns declined, for political reasons, with many never taking Trump on, even with so much legal evidence during the recent Mueller investigation, impeachment trials, and documented truths in the testimony from dozens of independent witnesses.
In 2015-16 Trump screamed about Mexicans “Murderers,” Third World “s-hole” countries, and so forth. He later lost short term support among Republicans in the aftermath of a leaked video where he was caught making vulgar remarks about women and his life-long predatory sexual behavior. But as we ramp up for the Nov. 3 presidential election, will they finally attack Trump’s evil which they said they abhorred? Of course not. That would take ethics or courage, or both. So we see GOP efforts to delay his crimes, reject truth, and keep him in power.
I’ve labored to call out the majority of regular Utahns who are complicit in the national disgrace we see from the Trump campaign daily. So today, for anyone unaware, I’ll try to report this phenomenon about the highest levels of my state’s once illustrious government. I’ve taken time to recall and review below what the White House’s “good” Utah Republican friends have said in their sober moments of truth before political expediency and their right-wing agenda took control again.
Anti-Trump condemnations from across Utah’s Republican Party by elected officials began by some who demanded he drop out in 2016, or they wouldn't vote for him. He offended their faith and moral principles, at least their stated principles. Here's how they broke it all out.
Utah Officials first claimed they were disgusted by Trump’s 2016 campaign and his views on race, women, and other issues. The predatory behavior of Trump shown on national television in the Access Hollywood tapes, his hate toward millions of American Latinos and Blacks, his degradation of Gold Star families whose children died in the Middle East, his disrespect toward veterans and heroes like Sen. John McCain, all fostered anger toward Trump, as well as confusion, dismay, and embarrassment. Below I cite or summarize Utah officials’ words of disgust at the time and since:
• Gov. Gary Herbert said just a few hours after the damaging sexist tape was released that Trump had lost his vote. “Donald Trump's statements are beyond offensive and despicable,” he said. But he’s cooperated with Trump for 3-plus years, including failing to take aggressive leadership to thwart the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the virus to grow and spread leading to many Utahns sick and dying. Our infection rates spike higher each day yet he only “encourages” wearing masks as he continues to fear Trump’s criticism if he were to lead with scientific leadership.
• Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who had endorsed Trump, said “The time has come for Governor Pence to lead the ticket.” Later, he accepted Trump’s offer to be ambassador to Russia.
• Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who had endorsed Trump early, became the first member of Congress to reverse course when he said he could no longer support the nominee. He told Salt Lake City 2News in a live interview: “I'm just so disappointed.” Claiming “I can't endorse somebody who acts and thinks like this,” it was never clear who he actually did vote for in 2016, but we can guess.
• Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee and current Utah Senator, condemned Trump in an attack on Trump’s values and personal behavior in 2016. A former Mormon bishop and Boston stake president, he declared that Trump's promises were “worthless,” describing him as a “fraud,” and claiming that he was “playing the American public for suckers. He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat.” Romney disliked Trump’s “vile degradations” about predatory sexual acts decrying candidate Trump. “Hitting on married women? Condoning assault?” Such vile degradations demean our wives and daughters and corrupt America's face to the world.” Romney has tweeted against other evidence of White House corruption for 3 years since. He has continued on occasion to savage Trump’s actions on numerous fronts, including when Trump partnered with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in policies against America. Perhaps the most critical complaint about Trump was when Romney was the lone Senate Republican to call for witnesses during the impeachment trial in 2020. Now he’s back on board with Donald, in spite of lengthy and valid criticisms.
• Utah Rep. Chris Stewart bashed Trump, calling the billionaire a fascist dictator, and “our Mussolini.” He claimed to worry about voting in 2016, comparing its importance to the election that ushered in Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and the abolition of slavery. “The world is standing on the edge of a knife and it is a very dangerous time.” Stewart didn't mince words in a speech at the University of Utah: “If some of you are Donald Trump supporters, we see the world differently because I can't imagine what someone is thinking.” Stewart went as far as comparing the billionaire to Italy's infamous fascist dictator: “Donald Trump does not represent Republican ideals, he is our Mussolini. Donald Trump's approach is, I am just going to do it.” Since the election of 2016, he has always supported Trump hook, line, and sinker, in fact becoming one of Donald’s biggest defenders in the U.S. House impeachment hearings.
• Rob Bishop, R-Utah from the state’s 1st District, barely complained about Trump’s predatory practices. But he disliked other options, finally announcing “Unless he (Trump) resigns, I must support the Republican nominee as my only option.” Rather than condemn Trump’s bullying of women and minorities, or countering the putting of kids in cages at the border, Bishop instead always supported Trump’s terrible ethics and the status quo. Three years ago in 2016-17, he sought a “grand bargain” to turn over much of Utah’s beautiful wilderness to corporate and mining interests for further exploitation. Known as the Public Lands Initiative (PLI), it did not advance conservation in Utah. Instead, it promoted fossil fuel development, motorized recreation, and control of public resources by the State of Utah. It included unprecedented provisions that would limit the federal ability to manage public lands for the protection of natural and cultural resources. It also undermined the Antiquities Act that would preserve indigenous peoples’ tribal lands. Working with the Trump administration, Bishop’s PLI was the worst piece of wilderness legislation introduced in Congress since the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act. However, thanks to leaders of some 250 tribes and plenty of national resistance from the broader American public, it failed, disappointing Trump and GOP co-conspirators. Bishop is dropping out of Congress after this term.
• Utah Rep. Mia Love would not endorse Trump in 2016, saying she “could not vote for him” and that he should “step aside.” As the only Black Republican woman in the U.S. Congress, happily funded by a very white GOP so she would be their token minority legislator, she spoke against the president several times. He shot back that “she gave me no love.” The congresswoman then ripped on Trump, saying the GOP failed to embrace minorities after losing the 2018 interim elections to Democrat Ben McAdams. But some in Utah say she has once again shifted from espousing values of decency to defending Trump.
• Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, once a Mormon bishop in Washington, DC, had mixed views on the GOP candidate early on. “Mr. Trump's comments were offensive and disgusting,” and “There is no excuse for such degrading behavior. All women deserve to be treated with respect.” Hatch even once said this: “This great nation can tolerate a president who makes mistakes. But it cannot tolerate one who makes a mistake and then breaks the law to cover it up.” Yet as the many pieces of evidence of Trump’s corruption began growing in 2017-2018-2019, Hatch grew quiet. Illegal payoffs, quid quo pros, campaign finance violations, used to be embarrassments when court cases were heard, and fines were levied. And when Trump attacked Germany’s Merkel as being under Putin’s control, something he knows about as a Russian puppet himself, Hatch rejected Trump’s lie and defended Germany. As Trump sought more insane tariffs against Europe, Hatch saw the fallacy of doing so and threatened to push back, going so far as to limit Trump’s trade authority because it was abusive. A crazy incident occurred in 2018 when Trump declared that Hatch had told him he (Trump) “was the best president in his lifetime. He actually once said I’m the greatest president in the history of our country,” Trump told the lawmakers in his next breath. “I said, does that include Lincoln and Washington? He said yes.” So Hatch had to once again tell the truth, that he did not think or say such a thing in praise of the “greatest” Trump.
• Rep. John Curtis of Utah had made the correct decision in not voting for Trump in the 2016 election because of the candidate’s values and terrible decisions. But under GOP pressure to conform with the president’s efforts to turn back social justice and more, right or wrong, Curtis has gradually weakened the power of his personal principles in favor of Trump politics. He seemed quite proud to vote against Donald’s impeachment in the U.S. House, somehow having succeeded in stamping out his last vestiges of integrity. It was so sad for me to witness his decline as a former friend and GOP supporter when John was our Provo, Utah mayor.
• Sen. Mike Lee, skewered Trump and his officials in a 2020 military briefing about the assassination of Iran’s top general, pointing out it was “the worst briefing” on a military issue he'd seen in his congressional career. The briefing was “terrible” and an “unmitigated disaster.” He declared he would support a War Powers Resolution that would dramatically curtail Trump's military powers in the future. “I find it insulting; I find it demeaning” to the Senate and the Constitution. “It’s un-American, it’s unconstitutional, and it’s wrong,” he said, referring to administration officials who briefed senators on Trump's strike and claimed the lawmakers could not debate the merits of the measure. However, a day later, Lee then reverted to his continuing support and defense of the White House once again. Regarding Trump’s sexist words and 2016 pride in abusing women earlier, Lee had indicated he did not support Trump, dismissing him completely. “Donald Trump is a distraction. It's time for him to step aside so we can focus on the winning ideas that will carry Republicans through to a victory in November.” Since then, he has occasionally claimed Trump was unfit for office on rare occasions. I think I finally figured Mike Lee out this past week when he first became a COVID spreader at unmasked White House events, when we learned he tested positive, but didn’t care about endangering the public. Then he confessed publicly he doesn’t like democracy. He prefers a republic, he finally admitted, playing the little legal game of jargon that most Americans have known for a couple of U.S. centuries.
• Rep. Ben McAdams, the lone Utah Democrat from Utah in the U.S. House of Representatives, has had to carefully walk a balance between criticisms of Trump while hoping to retain sufficient votes in conservative Utah. Heroically, he stood for his, and all loyal constitutionalist Americans’ values, and voted with the majority in Congress to impeach Donald Trump in the Fall of 2019. McAdams’ commitment to honoring the honesty and transparency of the many independent U.S. officials was evidence of his religion and strong moral values. He supported White house heroes who shared clear evidence of Trump’s corruption with Ukraine, unleashing staffers to violate U.S. law, collaborating with foreign agents, obstructing Congress, and more. McAdams clearly opposed White House efforts to weaken the United States. So I thank Rep. McAdams, for holding to his ethical commitments and church teachings as a lone voice in today’s Utah GOP hypocrisy.
“We the people” should thank every true American government official who isn’t complicit as a Trump partner in crime. We ought to appreciate all
those who truly live their values, & don’t cave-in to the political pressure spewing forth darkness since Trump wrested control of goodness & love.
