Mitt Romney says Trump represents a ‘failure of character’ that is changing ‘heart’ of nation

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said former President Donald Trump represents a “failure of character” for the party, as the ongoing senator discussed conversations among Senate Republicans.

“I don’t think I’ve heard a single member of my caucus, Republicans in the Senate, say, ‘You know, Donald Trump is great. Aren’t we lucky to have him as our leader?'” Romney said in an interview with CBS News’s Sunday Morning. “Donald Trump represents a failure of character, which is changing, I think, in many respects, the psyche of our nation and the heart of our nation.

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“And that’s something which takes a long time, if ever, to repair,” Romney, a prominent foe of the former president, added.

The Utah senator, who announced in September that he will not seek another term, is quoted in an upcoming biography, Romney: A Reckoning by McKay Coppins, that “a very large portion of my party really doesn’t believe in the Constitution.” In his statement announcing his retirement, Romney took aim at both Trump and President Joe Biden, stating both are unable or unwilling to address the nation’s leading problems.

Romney said that when Trump asked to “set aside the Constitution” and make him president in 2020, “you had Republicans cheer that.”

“It’s like, ‘Wait a second: This is the leader of our party saying we should put aside the Constitution? How can you believe you’re following the Constitution if that’s the case?'” Romney said on Sunday.

Romney was at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, he said, where hundreds of Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill after he lost the 2020 election. Congress had been in session at the time, working to certify the results.

“I do get death threats. And her feeling was I would not be safe, and I shouldn’t go,” Romney said about his wife’s concerns on Jan. 6. “And I said, ‘Well, this is a constitutional moment. This is a time when I have to be there.'”

“Do we weigh our own political fortunes more heavily than we weigh the strength of our republic, the strength of our democracy, and the cause of freedom?” Romney added later on the Senate floor that day via CBS News.

The Utah senator was the only Senate Republican to vote to impeach then-President Trump for pressuring Ukraine to find information on then-former Vice President Joe Biden during the 2020 election.

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When asked how he wants to be remembered by his children and future generations, Romney said, “Well, they probably already have an image of who I am. But my descendants, I hope, will walk away saying, ‘Okay, Granddad or Great-Granddad had beliefs which were either right or wrong, but he stood by ’em.'”

“I’d like them to also know that my life is not defined by winning and losing elections. My life is defined by my relationship with my family and my faith,” the outgoing senator continued. “That’s what I live for. Those other things are part of the life experience. But that’s the defining measure of my life.”