Sen. Rand Paul is spending much of his time on Wednesday pushing back against Mitt Romney, tweeting a defense in the morning, then holding the conference call and also planning to appear on national TV. | Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images Politics Rand Paul rips Romney for criticizing Trump

Rand Paul savaged Mitt Romney over his criticisms of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, declaring that the new senator from Utah is “virtue signaling” to the media and that his critiques of Trump’s character are bad for the country and bad for the GOP.

Romney (R-Utah), who will take office on Thursday, took a shot at Trump in a Washington Post op-ed on Tuesday asserting that Trump has “not risen to the mantle” of the presidency. Paul told a group of reporters that those comments risk limiting Romney’s influence in the Senate GOP conference and that his new Republican colleague should focus on substantive, not personal, differences with the president.


"This is bad for the Republican Party and really bad for an ability to work together in the Senate to get things done, when you take the time to attack someone’s character,” Paul said, lumping Romney in with “Never Trumpers” in the GOP. “It’s virtue signaling. They say: ‘Look at how terrible the character of the president is.’ And by doing so they are building themselves up.”

The Kentucky Republican ran against Trump in the 2016 race and exchanged harsh criticisms with Trump during their primary campaign but has since become one of the president’s closest allies despite occasionally voting against Trump's nominees and legislative proposals.

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Paul is spending much of his time on Wednesday pushing back against Romney, tweeting a defense in the morning, then holding the conference call with reporters and also planning to appear on national TV.

Two of the most vocal Republican Trump critics, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee, are retiring after Wednesday, leaving a void in the conference that Romney may now be eager to fill. But Paul said Romney “misjudged” the appetite in the Senate GOP for Trump criticism by writing about Trump’s character “shortfall.”

“I just don’t think it serves any usefulness for Republican senators to be out there attacking the character of the president,” Paul said. “How the president presents himself is up to him, but I don’t think it does anyone any good to be running around saying: ‘I’m holier than thou, look at me.’”

