“You can boo all you like,” Romney told the crowd
The intra-party ramifications for lawmakers who’ve opposed Trump continue to reverberate as Sen. Mitt Romney was nearly booed off stage during a Republican convention speech in his home state of Utah on Saturday.
“You can boo all you like,” Romney, who voted to impeach Trump twice, told the more than 2,100 Republican delegates in attendance.
The boos continued as Romney attempted to apparently go after the current president, asking the crowd, “So what do you think about President Biden’s first hundred days?” But when the senator began to acknowledge his differences with Trump, saying, “I don’t hide the fact that I wasn’t a fan of our last president’s character issues,” the boos grew loud enough to cause the senator to pause as taunts of “communist” and a “traitor” came from the crowd.
“Aren’t you embarrassed?” Romney said to some in the audience. Finally, in response to the relentless booing, Utah’s Republican Party Chairman Derek Brown interceded and chided the crowd by telling them to “please show respect.”
Romney tried to continue with his speech, but when he called himself an “old-fashioned Republican,” the boos again grew louder.
“Oh yeah, you can boo all you like, but I’ve been a Republican all my life,” Romney said. “My dad was a governor of Michigan, my dad worked for Republican candidates that he believed in. I worked for Republicans across the country, and if you don’t recall, I was the Republican nominee for President in 2012.”
After the speech, the convention voted down a resolution to censure Romney for his two impeachment votes 711-798, Utah Republican Party spokeswoman Lynda Cox told CNN.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), said on Sunday that she was “appalled” by the treatment Romney received.
“Mitt Romney is an outstanding senator who serves his state and our country well,” Collins said. “We Republicans need to remember that we are united by fundamental principles.”
