The Romney return: Welcome back, Mitt

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, became the first, and for a time, the only senator in U.S. history to vote to convict an impeached president of his own party. That vote followed the first impeachment of President Donald Trump over the allegation that he solicited Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 presidential election.

Romney also voted to convict Trump after the president’s second impeachment over his alleged incitement of an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. This time, Romney joined six other Republican senators.

During the 2016 presidential primary, Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, in a speech eviscerated Trump’s character and predicted economic and foreign policy disaster should Trump become president.

Romney said: “Let me put it plainly, if we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished. … If Donald Trump’s plans were ever implemented, the country would sink into a prolonged recession. … But wait, you say, isn’t he a huge business success that knows what he’s talking about? No, he isn’t.

“His bankruptcies have crushed small businesses and the men and women who worked for them. He inherited his business; he didn’t create it. … Trump’s bombast is already alarming our allies and fueling the enmity of our enemies. …

“Donald Trump tells us that he is very, very smart. I’m afraid that when it comes to foreign policy he is very, very not smart.

“I am far from the first to conclude that Donald Trump lacks the temperament of be president. … Think of Donald Trump’s personal qualities, the bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third-grade theatrics. We have long referred to him as ‘The Donald.’ He is the only person in America to whom we have added an article before his name. It wasn’t because he had attributes we admired. …

“There are a number of people who claim that Mr. Trump is a con man, a fake. There is indeed evidence of that. … He applauds the prospect of twisting the Constitution to limit First Amendment freedom of the press. This is the very brand of anger that has led other nations into the abyss.

“Here’s what I know. Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He’s playing the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat.

“His domestic policies would lead to recession. His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president. And his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill.”

That was so then.

In Romney’s resent post-presidential election CNN appearance, he sang a strikingly different tune:

“(Trump) won overwhelmingly. He said what he was going to do, and that’s what he’s doing.

“I mean, people are saying, oh, I don’t like this appointment or this policy that he’s talking about.

“But those are the things he said he was going to do when he ran. So, you can’t complain about someone who does what he said he was going to do.

“And I agree with him on a lot of policy fronts. I disagree with him on some things. But it’s like, OK, give him a chance to do what he said he’s going to do and see how it works out. …

“MAGA is the Republican Party, and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today. And if you were to ask me who the nominee will be in 2028, I think it’ll be J.D. Vance, all right? He’s smart, well-spoken, part of the MAGA movement. …

“Look, the Republican Party has become the party of the working-class, middle-class voter. And you’ve got to give Donald Trump credit for having done that, taken that away from the Democrats.”

What a difference it makes when the man Romney excoriated in 2016 confounds the experts and stages a history-shattering political comeback; wins all seven swing states; wins the popular vote; leads a Republican takeover of the Senate; retains control of the House; and mops the floor with his Democrat opponent.

Welcome back, Mitt.