Trump slams Romney during acquittal victory lap, says he's bitter over 2012 loss

close

Video

Mitt Romney praised, criticized in Utah after guilty vote

Sen. Mitt Romney’s decision to vote to convict President Trump for abuse of power in his Senate impeachment trial has sparked praise and outage, including in his home state of Utah; reaction and analysis from Former U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman.

Following Republican Sen. Mitt Romney's vote to convict President Trump on abuse of power in the Senate's impeachment trial, Trump took dead aim at the Utah senator during remarks Thursday afternoon at the White House.

"The only one that voted against was a guy that can't stand the fact that he ran one of the worst campaigns in the history of the presidency," Trump said, referring to his 2012 White House bid. He also called Romney a "failed presidential candidate," saying he was "the only half a vote we lost."

The "half a vote" was a reference to Romney voting to acquit Trump on obstruction of Congress and convict him of abuse of power — so Romney split his votes in half. Romney, in explaining his vote, said Wednesday, “The president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust.”

Romney's vote triggered an intense backlash from Trump supporters, including the president himself -- as he celebrated his ultimate acquittal.

Also in his wide-ranging, stream-of-consciousness comments, Trump asked Romney's fellow Utahan, Sen. Mike Lee, to apologize to the people of Utah about Romney for him.

"He's incredible, and right at the beginning, he knew we were right," Trump said of Lee, also a Republican. "And I appreciate you very much, you're just fantastic. And say hello to the people of Utah, and tell them, I'm sorry about Mitt Romney."

President Trump pauses as he speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

TRUMP CONDEMNS 'EVIL' IMPEACHMENT AFTER SENATE ACQUITTAL: 'IT WAS A DISGRACE'

Trump's line drew laughter in a room full of allies hand-selected by the White House during what has been a very good week for Republicans — from the Iowa Democratic caucus vote-counting fiasco to Trump's State of the Union Address to his impeachment acquittal.

Trump also hit Romney on the backlash the former Massachusetts governor has received from constituents for his impeachment vote.

"[Lee] comes from a great state Utah where my poll numbers have gone through the roof and one of the senator's poll numbers – and not this one – went down big," Trump said.

The president also made another joke while he addressed Lee, this one at Lee's expense.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"Whenever I sign bills, you know we do sign a lot of legislation that's — it's big and it's powerful but sort of everybody has to approve it," Trump said. "And I see 99-1. 99-1. I say, 'Don't tell me who's the one. Is it Mike?' 'Yes.' And he always has a good reason for it too by the way. "

Lee has a reputation for voting against very popular, bipartisan legislation, citing his small-government principles.

Trump spoke for approximately an hour Thursday, shouting out a variety of Republicans who played a role on his side of the impeachment saga, including Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Rep. Steve Scalese, R-La., as well as several others.