The fallout within the GOP over Mitt Romney's blistering New Year's Day attack on President Donald Trump has continued for another week, with more Republicans coming out to criticize the timing and reasoning behind Romney's latest outburst.
Romney was heavily criticized for his January 1 op-ed in The Washington Post in which he said that Trump had "not risen to the mantle of the office" during his time in the White House, and that his "most glaring failure" so far as president was his inability to unite a nation currently "so divided, resentful and angry."
Read more: Mitt Romney is jealous of Trump, says president's 2020 campaign manager
Trump was quick to fire back at Romney, asking in a tweet whether the Utah senator was a "flake" while suggesting that Romney should focus on other things such as border security "where he can be helpful."
Before the first Republican Conference meeting this year, fellow GOP colleagues were still expressing their disapproval over Romney's attack on Trump.
"It kind of felt like the same thing Trump does to everybody, Romney does to Trump. Smack you, and then want to negotiate," Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma told Politico.
"It is funny to me that while he was complaining about President Trump's personal attacks, he was personally attacking President Trump. I don't know if he sees the irony in it."
Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota also said that he hadn't talked to anyone "that's encouraged" by Romney's continued criticism of Trump, with new Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota suggesting Romney's attacks held extra weight because he was once a Republican presidential nominee.
"The timing was kind of curious," Thune said. "I wouldn't have advised him to do it right now."
Senator David Perdue of Georgia responded to Romney's op-ed with a column of his own in The Post three days later.
"The mainstream media and Democrats want to further divide Republicans, and now Romney has played right into their hands," Perdue wrote. "Jeff Flake filled that role before his retirement; the last thing we need now in the Senate is a Jeff Flake on steroids."
This, of course, is not the first time Romney and Trump have engaged in verbal blows. While Trump was seeking the GOP's presidential nomination, Romney described Trump as a "phony" and "a fraud" who was "playing the American public for suckers" during a speech at the University of Utah.
Romney also said in March 2016 that he would have rejected Trump's 2012 endorsement during his own presidential campaign because of his comments "about the KKK, Muslims, Mexicans [and those who are] disabled."
More recently, Romney attacked tTrump's controversial border separation policy, describing it as a "dark chapter in American history."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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