Mark Steyn to Mitt Romney: 'Look in the mirror, you are the reason for Trump'

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Media praising Mitt Romney amid impeachment conviction vote

Columnist Mark Steyn reacts to media flipping on opinion of Mitt Romney.

Author and columnist Mark Steyn told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Thursday that the ironic fact lost in the firestorm surrounding Sen. Mitt Romney's vote to convict President Trump of abuse of power this week is that Romney is the reason Trump is in the White House.

Steyn told host Tucker Carlson that Romney never "punched back" when attacked by the media or Democrats during his failed 2012 bid for the presidency.

When voters took note of that habit, they wanted a candidate who would do the exact opposite and not bow to the opposition when attacked. Those voters, Steyn said, gravitated toward Trump when he appeared on the scene.

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"In 2015, the Republican base decided that the essential quality they were looking for was someone who didn't let himself get slapped around by [CNN's] Candy Crowley as Mitt did in that [second 2012] debate," Steyn said. "If Mitt doesn't like Trump, Mitt, look in the mirror, you are the reason for Trump."

Steyn and host Tucker Carlson listed several instances when Romney was nowhere near the good graces of the left, where he currently finds himself.

Pundits like Donny Deutsch, Chris Matthews and Al Sharpton slammed Romney during the 2012 campaign. Additionally, then-Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., claimed Romney didn't pay his taxes, and was nonchalant about the claim when it was revealed to be a false accusation.

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"Mitt was called everything that Trump is called: Racist, sexist, binders full of women, doesn't pay his taxes, [is a] vampire capitalist who flies in your window and gives you cancer," Steyn added before remarking that Romney's vote appeared to give Matthews "leg tingles he hasn't had since Obama."

The MSNBC host memorably claimed then-Sen. Obama gave him a "thrill going up [his] leg" as he and then-anchor Keith Olbermann were discussing the Illinois Democrats' primary victories in early 2008.