Mitt Romney and his ilk were once critics of the president. But now, when it suits them, they’re backing him again
One unlikely effect of Donald Trump being in office has been a rise in the reputation of more moderate Republicans. In 2012, when Mitt Romney was running for president, he seemed like the incarnation of monied interests – a man who would defend beyond all other principles the right of the American millionaire to be taxed at 13%. He was out of touch, and cynically motivated. Whenever I saw a photo of Romney, I would suffer a surge of dislike.
Then came Trump. Such is the warping effect of the bar being so lowered, a man who wanted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and ban same-sex marriage has somehow become known for being somewhat progressive. In the first days after Trump’s victory, Romney tried and failed to suck up to the president to snag the secretary of state role. But as Trump’s outrages grew, so the senator for Utah became one of his fiercest critics, culminating this February when Romney voted to charge the president with abuse of power.
