Utah Sen.-elect Mitt Romney, who will be sworn in Thursday afternoon, told reporters on Capitol Hill he plans to have a trusting relationship with President Trump.
The comments come after he published an op-ed in the Washington Post on Tuesday, saying Mr. Trump “has not risen to the mantle of the office.”
The freshman senator faced criticism from fellow senators and his own niece, Ronna McDaniel, who chairs the Republican National Committee. They said Mr. Romney was not being productive or a team player and shouldn’t have made those comments prior to his swearing in.
“I’m not sure what makes special one time over another,” Mr. Romney told reporters, appearing not to regret publishing his op-ed despite the backlash.
“I look forward to having a trusting relationship with the president and with otters despite differences from time to time,” he added.
The Utah Republican said he campaigned on working with the president on issues where they agree, but said he would speak out on areas where he thinks the president is wrong.
He said they have had disagreements over the treatment of the media, the endorsement of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, the handling of the Neo-Nazi protests in Charlottesville, and the approach to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“I’ve continued to point out places that we are different and that is the great nature of this representative democracy,” Mr. Romney told reporters.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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