I read the excerpt from Romney’s book, and it confirmed a lot of things that I already knew about Republican senators. However, there is a section where Romney recalls at least one Republican senator switched his vote during Trump’s second impeachment trial from guilty to acquittal. This unnamed Republican senator knew Trump was guilty of insurrection, BUT he/she was AFRAID THAT TRUMP WOULD SICK THE MOB ON HIS/HER FAMILY. This will be lost among all the reporters and pundits, but we have a so called “leader” buckling to domestic terrrorism and letting an insurrectionist go scott free. I’m not a brave person, but I’m not a leader who took an oath to defend the Constitution and the American people. If you cannot do your duty to protect the American people from the leader of an insurrection, YOU SHOULD RESIGN IMMEDIATELY!
From The Atlantic:
Some of the reluctance to hold Trump accountable was a function of the same old perverse political incentives—elected Republicans feared a political backlash from their base. But after January 6, a new, more existential brand of cowardice had emerged. One Republican congressman confided to Romney that he wanted to vote for Trump’s second impeachment, but chose not to out of fear for his family’s safety. The congressman reasoned that Trump would be impeached by House Democrats with or without him—why put his wife and children at risk if it wouldn’t change the outcome? Later, during the Senate trial, Romney heard the same calculation while talking with a small group of Republican colleagues. When one senator, a member of leadership, said he was leaning toward voting to convict, the others urged him to reconsider. You can’t do that, Romney recalled someone saying. Think of your personal safety, said another. Think of your children. The senator eventually decided they were right.
As dismayed as Romney was by this line of thinking, he understood it. Most members of Congress don’t have security details. Their addresses are publicly available online. Romney himself had been shelling out $5,000 a day since the riot to cover private security for his family—an expense he knew most of his colleagues couldn’t afford.
I understand about fear and caving to it. I avoid confrontations. And I can understand being intimidated, especially when a family member is threatened. The hope is that the bully will be appeased and move on.
It never really works, but when fear for the life of a loved on is involved, how many of us react rationally? It’s why members of organized crime and gangs operate with impunity when there is no one to help us. If you are all by yourself and powerless, odds are high that someone will get hurt or killed when confronted by a criminal who uses violence.
BUT we are NOT talking about powerless people when it comes to this story from Mitt Romney. We are talking about people who have POWER! Romney tries to rationalize the Republican senators capitulation to Trump insurrection. Romney could afford to pay for a private security detail, but he is as wealthy man. The other senators cannot afford to hire protection.
OK. But he/she is still a U.S. senator! Republican senators had it in their hands to convict Donald Trump and prevent him from ever seeking the presidency again. Republican senators had the power to diminish Trump!
Would the right wing propagandists still support Trump if he could no longer ever be president? I doubt it. Trump would be a defeated former president with no where else to go. Trump could rail all he wanted, but would the media want to cover a man who had no chance at presidential power? Hell NO!
Power requires that you keep winning. How are you going to win with a horse who has been scratched from any future race? Without the possibility of winning another term, Trump would be a reduced in the eyes of even his supporters. And perception is always reality when it comes to Republican voters.
Trump would be seen as a loser with no future.
And I bet we would have seen the DOJ move faster to appoint Jack Smith instead of dithering and worrying about how how an investigation of Trump would look partisan. I know some will strongly disagree with my assessment, but D.C. works on power and the perception of who holds power. And the DOJ I think would have responded to the perception that Trump had lost his mojo, especially with members of Congress.
Anyway, I think this is the bigger point of Romney’s confessional.