The “Guilty” Vote

On the 5th February, the Senate acquitted Donald Trump of 2 articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The vote split almost entirely along party lines, just like in Bill Clinton’s trial. But there was one senior, lifelong Republican, who broke ranks and voted with the Democrats. Mitt Romney said he considered President Trump guilty of abuse of power, but not of obstruction of Congress. Romney was the first Senator ever to go against his party — and President — in an impeachment trial.

As for why Romney did so, there are multiple credible reasons.

Mitt Romney

Religion

Romney, during an interview for the New York Times, said that he felt a “deep sense of responsibility to abide by the Constitution”, which was backed by his “oath to God”. Romney is a deeply religious man. His family has been Mormon for generations, and Romney is no different, having followed their traditions. It is quite plausible, logical even, to suggest that Romney indeed felt duty-bound to vote by his conscience, and not just by his party. But the vast majority of Senators are religious, many strongly so. All senators — as jurors during impeachment trials — swear an oath to do “impartial justice”. The fact that only one, Mitt Romney, went against this tsunami of Republican support for Trump suggests that impartiality of his fellow senators may not have been absolute. This, in turn, hints that there must be other reasons for Romney, as a Republican, to have voted differently.

Career

Mitt Romney is, by all accounts, a successful man. Having made hundreds of millions of dollars in his lifetime, he and his family are set for generations. Romney has also spent over 25 years in politics, as has his family. His father unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination against Richard Nixon, and Mitt himself is the Senator for Utah, as well as the former Governor of Massachusetts and the 2012 Republican nominee for President.

Romney is now 72. Of course, we are living in a time where older politicians, such as Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, are at the forefront of politics. However, Romney has already exhausted many options for political gain in his life, and it is doubtful that he has a massive public future because of this. At 72, therefore, Mitt is probably quite satisfied with his achievements. It doesn’t seem he is seeking political capital in the same way many other Republicans are, and therefore is free to vote — and act- however he wants, rather than blindly follow President Trump.. Even before voting, Romney knew that there would be “unimaginable” consequences for his vote against President Trump. His predictions have come true, with Trump recently telling the governor of Utah to “keep [Romney]”, saying that “[the Republicans] don’t want him”. There have also been conversations about expelling Romney from the Republican party altogether, although this is realistically unlikely to happen.

For Romney, then, his vote has little impact on his personal life. He is not a career politician in the traditional sense, having made his fortune outside, rather than inside politics, and does not need to kowtow to Trump because of that. However, he has now significantly weakened his position in Utah, with UtahPolicy polls immediately after Trump’s acquittal showing Romney with 36% approval, down 10% from a poll in October 2019. Romney risks further losing the support of not only his party, but also his voters with his move.

Disapproval of Trump

Romney has always been a rather outspoken Republican, but especially so against President Trump. Whilst he does “agree with most of the things the President has done”, Romney criticized Trump in 2016 on multiple fronts. He said that Trump’s economic policies would plunge the country into a recession, that his foreign policy is poor, and that he is a “phony” and “fraud”. Of course, back in the 2016 Presidential campaign, Republicans in general were happier to criticize Trump. Now that he is firmly part of the Republican party and likely to be a two-term President, Republicans gain far more from courting Trump than they do from criticizing him. In 2019, Romney condemned the President for withdrawing troops from Kurdistan, and, according to CBS, he is one of Trump’s “fiercest critics”. Romney has called Trump’s actions regarding the call with Ukraine “egregious” and “appalling”. The image we get from Romney, therefore, is that he is still definitely a Republican, still definitely a Conservative, but is more open to criticizing and going against Trump than any other Senator is, due to his beliefs, religion, and career prospects.