Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is chastising President Donald Trump for “glaring” shortfalls in leadership and character, suggesting that Trump’s words and actions have hurt America’s stability and global reputation.
The incoming Senator from Utah and 2012 Republican nominee for president raised questions about Trump’s conduct in an op-ed piece published Tuesday night by The Washington Post.
Romney said that he didn’t find fault with all of the president’s policies but was discouraged by Trump’s approach to the national discourse, especially over the last month.
“With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable,” Romney wrote. “And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring.”
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In response, President Trump on Twitter urged Romney to “be a TEAM player.”
“Here we go with Mitt Romney,” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning, saying he’d “much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful. I won big, and he didn’t.”
Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast! Question will be, is he a Flake? I hope not. Would much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful. I won big, and he didn’t. He should be happy for all Republicans. Be a TEAM player & WIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2019
Romney, who was Massachusetts’ governor from 2003-2007, said that “the world is watching” Trump’s behavior and cited a Pew Research Center report as evidence of the falling global influence of the United States under Trump.
The alternative to US global leadership, Romney wrote, is an “autocratic, corrupt, and brutal” course set by China and Russia.
Romney, who denounced Trump as a “phony” and a “fraud” during the 2016 campaign, has had alternating spurts of disagreement and friendliness with the president. After their 2016 election bickering, they met for dinner in New York City, with Romney reportedly on the shortlist to be Trump’s secretary of state.
Trump also endorsed Romney when the latter decided to run for Senate in Utah, an endorsement Romney accepted.
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During that campaign, Romney noted that he wasn’t going to be “a daily commentator on everything the president says” but that he might feel a “moral obligation” to express his views under the right circumstances.
He repeated that refrain in Tuesday’s op-ed, declaring “I do not intend to comment on every tweet or fault. But I will speak out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions.”
Policies and appointments are only a part of a presidency. A president must also unite us, inspire us, and defend our vital institutions. https://t.co/jmIw8XbV4k
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) January 2, 2019
Peter Bailey-Wells can be reached at peter.bailey-wells@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @pbaileywells.