As we told you on Saturday, Sen. Mitt Romney was “soundly booed” by the crowd a the Utah GOP convention:
‘Soundly booed’: Mitt Romney didn’t get an entirely warm reception from crowd at Utah GOP convention https://t.co/Jw5la6MElg
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 1, 2021
But did he lie to them?
Romney reportedly told the crowd, “You can boo all you like. I’ve been a Republican all of my life”:
“You can boo all you like. I’ve been a Republican all of my life."
Mitt Romney was greeted with boos and shouts of "communist" and "traitor" at the Utah GOP event.https://t.co/On3vHO5cpE
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) May 1, 2021
As The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles points out, Romney claimed he was an independent during the Reagan years:
“Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush." —Mitt Romney, 1994 https://t.co/8EkbI8qiyU
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) May 2, 2021
Let’s go to the videotape!
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) May 2, 2021
He’s been called out on this line before:
Just remember Mitt Romney 1994: “Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush." Nothing surprising in today’s announcement. If someone won’t defend President Reagan they probably won’t defend President Trump.
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) February 5, 2020
I would give anything if Romney had said "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush" to that. #cnndebate
— Liz Mair (@LizMair) January 27, 2012
Ooh, here's a good one. Romney in '94: "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.”
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) January 18, 2012
Romney in '94: "I was an independent during the time of
Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.’'— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) January 11, 2012
Romney also said he “was not a fan of our last president’s character issues.” From the Salt Lake Tribune:
“I’m a man who says what he means, and you know I was not a fan of our last president’s character issues,” said Romney as delegates attempted to shout him down. Accusations that Romney was a “traitor” or “communist” flew from the crowd like so many poison darts.
The cacophony of disapproval only ended after outgoing party chair Derek Brown scolded delegates to “show respect” for Romney.
“You can boo all you like,” said Romney. “I’ve been a Republican all of my life. My dad was the governor of Michigan and I was the Republican nominee for president in 2012.”
Oddly, Romney didn’t have much to say about “character issues” when he was accepting Trump’s endorsement in 2012:
#ThrowbackThursday VIDEO … Feb. 2, 2012: Donald Trump endorses Mitt Romney https://t.co/FtZoC8fs2Y pic.twitter.com/TFZUMFFLQO
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 3, 2016
Or when he was interviewing for a cabinet position after the 2016 election:
Trump interviewed prospective Cabinet appointees at his golf course in New Jersey — including Mitt Romney https://t.co/YcQN2Zi7ku pic.twitter.com/tfy9lE8AyK
— Newsday (@Newsday) November 20, 2016
Or when he was accepting Trump’s endorsement for his Senate run in 2018:
Thank you Mr. President for the support. I hope that over the course of the campaign I also earn the support and endorsement of the people of Utah.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) February 20, 2018
What a farce.
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