Mitt Romney Drops Statement on Trump-Biden Election, Gets Dragged For Equating President With Keith Olbermann
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Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) released a largely anti-Trump statement on the state of American politics, decrying how “vile” the election has become — but is getting dragged for questionably equating President Donald Trump with Keith Olbermann.
Romney took to Twitter to share his statement, noting how troubled he is by American’s current state, which was once “the birthplace of modern democracy.”
My thoughts on the current state of our politics: pic.twitter.com/oYY4zlX6ZP
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) October 13, 2020
“I have stayed quiet with the approach of the election,” Romney wrote. “But I’m troubled by our politics, as it has moved away from spirited debate to a vile, vituperative, hate-filled morass that is unbecoming of any free nation — let alone the birthplace of modern democracy.”
Romney directly called out Trump for his tendency to name-call and for his constant attacks on Democrats — especially on Democratic women.
“The president calls the Democratic vice presidential candidate ‘a monster,'” Romney said. “He repeatedly labels the speaker of the House ‘crazy;’ he calls for the Justice Department to put the prior president in jail; he attacks the governor of Michigan on the very day a plot is discovered to kidnap her.”
Although he mostly focused on Trump, Romney did denounce House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for tearing up the president’s State of the Union speech and decried “media on the left” for amplifying hate, singling outOlbermann for calling Trump a “terrorist.”
Some pundits noted that Romney’s statement basically a “pro-Biden statement,” as he is excluded from any criticism:
Many people are still evaluating Romney based on how vocally anti-Trump he is. But just as important at this point, if not more so, is whether he will be willing to back bipartisan legislation in the Senate under a Biden administration. He’s one of the few who actually could be.
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) October 13, 2020
I love Mitt but the only logical conclusion of this statement is supporting Joe Biden. https://t.co/t4SZOdfgPH
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) October 13, 2020
The majority of those responding to Romney’s statement, however, dragged him for equating Trump to Olbermann:
Pretty amazing bothsideism here. @MittRomney zings POTUS, and then points to @KeithOlbermann (who is not President, a public official, or even a cable news host at this point) to accuse Democrats of similar behavior from the left. https://t.co/tSrYrXIesP
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) October 13, 2020
WHITMER*** sorry sorry
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) October 13, 2020
Wow, powerful stuff by Mitt Romney to pen a sternly worded memo about deeply dangerous, hate-filled rhetoric coming from leaders on both sides: President of the United States Donald Trump, and… *checks notes* … *re-checks notes in disbelief* … Keith Olbermann. https://t.co/vkRgUkSK2C
— Dave Cavell (@DavidFCavell) October 13, 2020
Opinion: Mitt Romney Laughably Equates Trump’s Politicization of DOJ, Attacks on Gov. Whitmer with Pelosi Tearing Up Trump’s SOTU Speech https://t.co/Fjgz5uxHvJ via @matt_naham pic.twitter.com/0KgQ2UgDRk
— Law & Crime (@lawcrimenews) October 13, 2020
the only thing that redeems this trash is that it’s 100% unreadable
— inverted vibe curve: burgertown must be defended (@PatBlanchfield) October 13, 2020
Senator Romney, you have, at times, shown tremendous courage for standing up to Trump when no one else in your party would. At other times, you didn’t. But seriously, if you need to call out Keith Olbermann (!) to show “both sides-ism,” then you really miss the point.
— Ken Rudin (@kenrudin) October 13, 2020
These aren’t thoughts, Mitt
— roxane gay (@rgay) October 13, 2020
[gesturing broadly at the President of the United States and Keith Olbermann] very fine people on both sides
— Jay Willis (@jaywillis) October 13, 2020
Laughing bitterly to myself at the idea of mentioning *Keith Olbermann* in this, but not Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham or Rush Limbaugh or Jesse Watters or Jeanine Pirro or Lou Dobbs or Charlie Kirk or Tomi Lahren or Steve Doocy or Bret Baier or Ainsley Earha
— Jay Willis (@jaywillis) October 13, 2020
On the one hand Trump does this. On the other hand, Keith Olbermann does that.
GTFOH @MittRomney with the rank bothsidesism. https://t.co/fGIujsePR5
— Alfred Spellman (@AlfredSpellman) October 13, 2020
