Lee says Romney should not be punished by a dismissal vote

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He says “there’s enough room in the Republican Party for both of us.”

(Susan Walsh | AP file photo, pool) Utah Senator Mike Lee is shown here in a December 11, 2020 file photo. Lee defends Senator Mitt Romney’s vote to condemn former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. Lee says Romney should not be punished for this vote because there is room for different opinions in the Republican Party.

| February 19, 2021, 11:17 p.m.

| Updated: February 20, 2021, 1:56 am

Sen. Mike Lee defends Sen. Mitt Romney’s vote to convict former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. While Lee disagrees with Romney’s conclusion, he doesn’t see it as a “cause for alarm.”

“Even though Senator Romney and I usually vote together, and with a majority of Republicans in the Senate, we vote differently,” Lee’s statement released through his 2022 re-election campaign said. we do not blindly differ from anyone. “

Romney was the first U.S. senator in history to vote to convict a president of his own political party when he was the only Republican to vote for the conviction during Trump’s first February 2020 impeachment process. In the second trial, Romney joined six other Republicans who concluded that Trump was guilty of inciting the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. That riot left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer.

Romney has been the subject of much contempt by Republicans for voting against a majority of his party at the end of the trial. There has been a push on social media to censor him, with an effort that said he was “misrepresenting himself as a Republican” and accused him of being an agent of the “deep state” that opposed him. and Trump. Other Utah Republicans have called for his resignation for the vote.
As riots broke out in the Capitol building on Jan. 6, Lee told The Salt Lake Tribune that Trump accidentally called his cell phone, thinking he was trying to contact Alabama’s newly elected senator Tommy Tuberville. During the impeachment trial, Lee, along with other Republican senators, consulted with Trump’s legal team to discuss his legal strategy before beginning his defense of the former president.

Lee totally disagreed with the calls to punish Romney for his vote.

“While Senator Romney and I sometimes come to different conclusions, in the Republican tent there is enough space for both of us, just as there is enough space for all Republicans in the general election, regardless of how they voted in the primaries, ”Lee said. statement.

Lee’s words echo those of the Utah Republican Party. The state Republican Party issued a statement following the divergent votes for Lee and Romney’s dismissal, saying “diversity of thought” is a benefit to political parties and warning against “unanimity of thought.”

Lee’s public statement of support for Romney comes as he prepares to run for a third term in the U.S. Senate next year. He is already facing opposition, as the left-wing Alliance for a Better Utah launched the “Humans Against Mike Lee” campaign this week, with the goal of ousting him. He also raises funds extensively before next year’s race, with an email stating he is the main target of the “Trump Project” group against Trump.

As Lee sees it, differences in political thinking will make the Republican Party stronger as they head into the 2022 midterm elections.

“The Republican Party should work tirelessly to regain the House and Senate in 2022. Having different perspectives within our party leads to a more robust debate, which in turn produces more thoughtful political results, all of which will be to the benefit of Republicans. in the upcoming election … The Republican Party store is open to anyone who wants to support our shared goals and freedom, ”Lee wrote.

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