OPINION:
Newly elected Sen. Mitt Romney stretched his neck across the Senate all the way to the House to issue his fellow congressional member Steve King, Iowa lawmaker, a harsh message that went like this: Resign.
Now if only Romney could get as tough with Democrats as he does with Republicans — perhaps he’d be a half-decent senator.
Romney’s comments came in context of weighing in on King’s white supremacy remarks.
“I think he ought to step aside, and I think Congress ought to make it very clear he has no place there,” Romney said during an interview on CNN.
Romney, according to The Hill, also clarified he didn’t just detest King’s comments — he really, really detested them.
“Steve King’s comments are reprehensible,” he said, The Hill reported. “[He] ought to resign and move on and let someone else who represents American values take his seat [and] should find a different line of work.”
Well and good; the good senator from Massachusetts — oh, wait, make that Utah — has a right to an opinion, just like anyone else.
But this is the same Romney who ran a rather tepid race against former President Barack Obama — the same Romney who’s never met a RINO he didn’t like — the same Romney who’d rather attack President Donald Trump than the Democrats.
Of course he has an opinion about King, who asked in an interview with The New York Times that “white nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive? Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and civilization?”
Of course Romney has to issue a quick and public condemnation of not just the remarks, but also of the person. King is a Republican.
Romney has to go on the attack.
Only a Democrat would be safe from his wrath.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.