A Republican senator took a swipe at fellow freshman Mitt Romney days after Romney wrote an op-ed critical of President Trump.
In an interview with Breitbart News, Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said he campaigned for office in 2018 partly because he wanted to combat the political approach espoused by Romney, the failed 2012 Republican presidential nominee who also served as Massachusetts governor from 2003 to 2007.
“One of the reasons I ran is because it’s no longer business as usual, and to me, Mitt Romney would epitomize business as usual and the old way of governing,” Braun told the outlet. “Many people were shaken by the fact that there is a novel approach and a new style. Thank goodness, because what we had is dismal.”
Just before being sworn in for this new term, Romney wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that Trump has not “risen to the mantle of the office.”
Trump replied by encouraging the Utah senator to stop criticizing him and instead work with Republicans to boost border security. “Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast! Question will be, is he a Flake? I hope not,” Trump said on Twitter. “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!”
After the op-ed was published last week, Braun, who beat Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly by running on a pro-Trump message, told Fox News that he believed Romney’s move had “a political calculation to it that remains to be seen.”
