President Donald Trump on Monday mocked Republican Senator Mitt Romney for marching with Black Lives Matter protesters over the weekend an...
President Donald Trump on Monday mocked Republican Senator Mitt Romney for marching with Black Lives Matter protesters over the weekend and claimed his poll numbers will 'tank' in his home state of Utah because of it.
'Tremendous sincerity, what a guy. Hard to believe, with this kind of political talent, his numbers would 'tank' so badly in Utah!,' the president wrote on Twitter.
Trump's insult to Romney came atop a retweet of a Washington Post reporter, who saw Romney marching in the streets of Washington D.C. on Sunday and noted he told her he was walking 'to make sure that people understand that Black Lives Matter.'
Mitt Romney became the first Republican senator to march with the protests that sprang up in the wake of George Floyd's death, joining them in their march from the Capitol to the White House on Sunday
President Trump mocked Mitt Romney for marching with Black Lives Matter protesters over the weekend, saying his poll numbers will 'tank' in his home state of Utah because of it
The president has held a grudge against the Republican senator from Utah since Romney found Trump was guilty on one article of impeachment - abuse of power - in the president's February trial. Romney was the only Republican senator to vote to convict the president, who was ultimately cleared of both articles of impeachment by the full Senate.
But while Trump slammed Romney's approval ratings, a May poll of Utah voters saw 52 per cent approve of the job Romney is doing as senator. Trump's approval rating is at 42.9 per cent in the Real Clear Politics polling average.
Additionally, protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have taken place across Utah, where the governor brought in the National Guard to help crowd control in Salt Lake City and they included a retired Marine who stood in his dress blue uniform with black tape over his mouth reading 'I Can't Breathe.'
Sen Mitt Romney tweeted a selfie of himself marching with protesters in Washington D.C.
Romney marched in the middle of the crowd of protesters headed for the White House
Romney became the first Republican senator to join the protests that have sprung up around the country in the wake of George Floyd's death when he marched with demonstrators down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House.
He snapped a selfie of himself in the crowd, wearing a white checked shirt, jeans and a construction-grade mask on the hot D.C. day. His tweet of it, captioned 'Black Lives Matter,' went viral.
Romney told The Washington Post that he wanted to find 'a way to end violence and brutality, and to make sure that people understand that black lives matter.'
He joined thousands of evangelicals in their march from Capitol Hill to the White House.
Romney has been vocal in his support of protesters, a contrast to President Trump, who declared himself last week the 'law and order president.' Trump's handling of the protests, including using chemical agents and rubber bullets to have them cleared from the area around the White House so he could have a photo-op at St. John's Episcopal Church, earned him a fair amount of criticism, including from some Republicans.
On Saturday, Romney tweeted a photo of his father, George, who was the governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, marching with civil rights protesters in the 1960s in Detroit.
In the caption of that photo, Romney wrote: 'This is my father, George Romney, participating in a Civil Rights march in the Detroit suburbs during the late 1960s - 'Force alone will not eliminate riots,' he said. 'We must eliminate the problems from which they stem.''
Retired Marine Todd Winn, wearing a mask which reads 'I Can't Breathe,' participates in a protest in front of the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday
On Saturday, Romney tweeted a photo of his father, George, who was the governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, marching with civil rights protesters in the 1960s in Detroit. George Romney is seen marching with protesters in June 1963
And Romney has spoken out about Floyd, the black Minnesota man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes.
'No Americans should fear enmity and harm from those sworn to protect us,' Romney tweeted last week. 'The death of George Floyd must not be in vain: Our shock and outrage must grow into collective determination to extinguish forever such racist abuse.
Romney's march came after a report he's won't back President Trump in November's election.
It's unclear if the senator would endorse Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee. He is weighing doing what he did in the 2016 election, which is write in the name of his wife Anne, according to The New York Times.