OPINION:
Does Mitt Romney still not understand why Republican voters have shunned him? His recent urging to consolidate resources against Donald Trump received a collective eye roll from G.O.P. donors because Mr. Romney still hasn’t learned that actions speak louder than words.
The contrasting political careers of Messrs. Romney and Trump encapsulate why action is the pinnacle element in politics. Historians will soon write how the former’s lack and the latter’s embrace of action reshaped the G.O.P. The Republican electorate’s tolerance of empty rhetoric is over. Thanks to Mr. Trump, the era of action is just beginning.
This record of action from Mr. Trump is why I am supporting his 2024 campaign for president. He represents a future where Americans can act to change their circumstances. Republican voters won’t accept anything less.
Although some occasionally censor Mr. Trump for his choice of words, nearly all Republicans celebrate what he accomplished during his presidency. Conversely, some laude Mr. Romney for his rhetoric, but the overwhelming majority routinely renounce him for his actions or lack thereof.
Mr. Romney’s political thought process is from a bygone era full of passive Republicans concerned with maintaining power. They neither failed nor succeeded in helping their constituents because they never tried. Mr. Trump’s presidency bent on keeping campaign promises, challenged the inertia of the past and set up a new expectation for Republican standard bearers – i.e., bold conservative action.
For example: Mr. Trump did far more to help Utahns than Mr. Romney’s nice-sounding rhetoric. Nearly every office-seeker, including Mr. Romney, promises to combat the federal bureaucracy and the suffocating power it wields over Utah’s public land. Romney has yet to do anything, but in 2017 Mr. Trump used presidential authority for the first time in history to reduce the size of national monuments in our state.
As mayor of a growing city in Utah, I witnessed the numerous ways the Trump administration raised my constituents’ quality of life. Whether by cutting federal taxes, fighting bureaucratic regulation, appointing conservative justices, or keeping gas prices down by ensuring America was energy independent, his deliverables reached every family.
Pontificating on foreign relations may have brought some attention to Mr. Romney, but it was Mr. Trump who put America First principles into practice. Josh Holt, a resident of my city, was unjustly imprisoned in socialist Venezuela. In my first year as mayor, Mr. Trump’s bold intervention freed him and returned him to our community.
By comparison, Mr. Romney’s voting record in the Senate evinces he is not a reliable Republican. He has sided with the Democrats nearly 60% of the time in the first two and a half years of President Joe Biden’s administration. He has reneged on campaign promises to work toward balancing the federal budget, instead voting to grow government spending by trillions. And although he told voters he’ll only support conservative justices to the Supreme Court, he voted to confirm radical Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
It’s also documented that he was one of those who encouraged Mr. Biden to run for president. The disastrous Biden Presidency is, in part, Mr. Romney’s doing. Mr. Romney constantly breaks promises without refrain and demonstrates he is not aligned with the rank-and-file Republicans.
It’s doubtful many G.O.P. donors he was lecturing would agree with his actions. Utah voters are also souring on Mr. Romney. Recent public polling of Utahns show a majority do not view him favorably.
I am running to defeat Mr. Romney in Utah’s senate race next year. I am tired of the eternal politician who runs for nearly every office in the country, always seeking power, promises the world, then, once in office, does nothing to help improve the lives of the Republican voters who got him into office.
America cannot afford nice-sounding politicians who march with Black Lives Matter and fall for every other politically correct movement. Americans need bold conservative action to confront the challenges of an increasingly dangerous world.
Utahns respect leaders who do all they can rather than pay lip service to the concerns of Americans.
When I am elected to the Senate, I intend to serve the voters. And with President Trump back in the White House, the Republican party will continue to transform into the party of action.
- Trent Staggs is mayor of Riverton, Utah, and a candidate for the 2024 U.S. Senate race.
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