White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham explained that she was disappointed with but not surprised by Sen. Mitt Romney’s decision to vote to remove President Trump from office.
The Utah Republican voted to convict Trump on one of the two articles on Wednesday afternoon. He cast his conviction vote for the abuse of power article but chose to acquit the president on the obstruction of Congress charge. Romney was the only GOP member in either chamber of Congress to join the Democrats in supporting Trump’s impeachment and removal.
Romney has faced condemnation from many members of his own party, including from Trump. Grisham bashed the 2012 Republican presidential nominee during an appearance on America’s Newsroom Thursday.
“Certainly, I was disappointed, but sadly, I wasn’t surprised,” she began. “If you put party aside, if you even put religion aside, I just had to wonder, was Mitt Romney even listening? Because if he was listening, he would not have voted that way. The president did absolutely nothing wrong.”
The press secretary went on to attack Romney for voting to convict the president despite his previous desire for a position in Trump’s cabinet.
“I’m old enough to remember when Mitt Romney was doing all he could to become secretary of state,” she continued. “I was there when he met with the president at Bedminster. I was there when he went out to dinner with him in New York. I remember when he wanted to be secretary of state, so just like in 1994, and all the time since, I think that he is flip-flopping.”
The Senate voted 52-48 to acquit the president on the abuse of power charge and 53-47 to acquit the president on the obstruction of Congress charge, with Romney being the lone vote to break party lines.
[Related: Stephanie Grisham: ‘Democrats should be held accountable’ for ‘corrupt’ impeachment]
