By Richard Galant, CNN
Updated 11:45 AM ET, Sun February 9, 2020
(CNN) It seemed perfect. Everything was going Donald Trump’s way. Republican senators had refused to allow witnesses in his impeachment trial. They were expected to form a solid red line of defense. And the administration was even hoping some vulnerable Democrats might buck their party and vote to acquit the President.
Then came the stunner: Mitt Romney broke with his fellow Republicans and voted for Trump’s removal from office. “He explained his decision in moving moral, ethical and patriotic terms,” wrote Frida Ghitis. “Judging the President, he said, was ‘the most difficult decision I ever faced.’ But the judgment of history weighed heavily. He faced his responsibility with modesty and gravity…he found that ‘what the President did was wrong, grievously wrong.'”
Romney thus became the first senator in American history to vote for removal of a president of his own party. And Democratic senator Doug Jones, who faces an uphill battle to retain his seat in strongly pro-Trump Alabama, also voted to remove Trump. “With their integrity, Romney and Jones defined themselves for future generations,” Ghitis wrote.
Trump was of course acquitted — and had reason to celebrate, which he did on Thursday. But for the most part, it was not a smiling Trump the nation saw. He was furious with Romney. And with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. And still with the FBI director he fired, James Comey.
“Trump recapped the many investigations against him over the last three years and directed his vitriol at those who dared oppose him,” wrote Michael D’Antonio. “Instead of taking even a small measure of responsibility for a crisis that kicked off after he tried to enlist foreign election help in exchange for congressionally approved military aid for an ally at war, Trump demonstrated the pure essence of his narcissism and self-pity.” The President called his antagonists “evil and sick,” D’Antonio noted.
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Polar Party
Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/09/opinions/trump-gets-unwelcome-surprise-opinion-column-galant/index.html