Sen. Mitt Romney defended MSNBC host Joe Scarborough following attacks the former congressman received from President Trump regarding the death of a staffer in Scarborough’s office nearly two decades ago.
“I know Joe Scarborough. Joe is a friend of mine,” the Utah Republican tweeted Wednesday. “I don’t know T.J. Klausutis. Joe can weather vile, baseless accusations but T.J.? His heart is breaking. Enough already.”
In recent days, Trump has tweeted about a disproved conspiracy theory that Scarborough was somehow responsible for the death of the staffer, Lori Klausutis.
Klausutis was working in Scarborough’s congressional office in the early 1990s when she collapsed, hit her head on a table, and died. Local police and the medical examiner announced they suspected no foul play.
But left-wing critics of Scarborough at the time seized on the news, speculating he had been having an affair with the woman.
Trump reignited speculation about her death.
“Psycho Joe Scarborough is rattled, not only by his bad ratings but all of the things and facts that are coming out on the internet about opening a Cold Case,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “He knows what is happening!”
I know Joe Scarborough. Joe is a friend of mine. I don’t know T.J. Klausutis. Joe can weather vile, baseless accusations but T.J.? His heart is breaking. Enough already.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) May 27, 2020
Last week, Klausutis’s widower wrote a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, pleading with him to do something about Trump’s tweets.
“I’m asking you to intervene in this instance because the President of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him — the memory of my dead wife — and perverted it for perceived political gain,” Timothy Klausutis wrote. “I have mourned my wife every day since her passing. I have tried to honor her memory and our marriage,” he wrote. “As her husband, I feel that one of my marital obligations is to protect her memory as I would have protected her in life.”
Twitter has not taken action against Trump’s posts but said in a statement it was “deeply sorry” the president was choosing to use its platform to attack Scarborough.
Romney has been a frequent critic of Trump since he was elected. Earlier this year, Romney became the only senator to vote to convict a president from the same party at the end of Trump’s Senate impeachment trial. The president was acquitted on two charges.
