By Benjamin Fearnow
Media Reporter
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President Donald Trump ranted against Republican Senator Mitt Romney Saturday morning, labeling him a "pompous a--" in response to criticism over his Ukraine scandal.
In a tweet Friday, the Utah senator characterized Trump's request for dirt on political opponent Joe Biden and his son Hunter from the Ukrainian government as "appalling." Romney remarked that Trump's Ukraine communications were "brazen and unprecedented," noting that "it strains credulity" for the president to deny he was targeting Biden merely by coincidence or good faith.
"When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China's investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated," Romney wrote.
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"By all appearances, the President's brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling...." he added.
Trump responded to Romney for the dissenting remarks, once again claiming he "choked" during the 2012 presidential campaign and denying any wrongdoing in his July phone call and dealings with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"Mitt Romney never knew how to win. He is a pompous 'a--' who has been fighting me from the beginning, except when he begged me for my endorsement for his Senate run (I gave it to him), and when he begged me to be Secretary of State (I didn't give it to him). He is so bad for R's!" Trump tweeted Saturday.
The president continued ranting against the GOP senator from Utah: "Somebody please wake up Mitt Romney and tell him that my conversation with the Ukrainian President was a congenial and very appropriate one, and my statement on China pertained to corruption, not politics. If Mitt worked this hard on Obama, he could have won. Sadly, he choked!"
The Utah senator had previously prefaced his criticism of Trump's foreign policy maneuvering as "troubling."
"If the President asked or pressured Ukraine's president to investigate his political rival, either directly or through his personal attorney, it would be troubling in the extreme. Critical for the facts to come out," Romney tweeted September 22.
Trump's defenders immediately ridiculed Romney for criticizing the president, posting photographs from the months following the 2016 election in which the two met to potentially discuss a position for the fellow Republican in his administration. Trump endorsed Romney during his successful Senate run in 2018 despite the former Massachusetts governor bashing Trump on his presidential campaign trail.
"@MittRomney has announced he is running for the Senate from the wonderful State of Utah. He will make a great Senator and worthy successor to @OrrinHatch, and has my full support and endorsement!" Trump tweeted in February 2018.
But speaking to an audience last March, Romney said of the president: "Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He's playing the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat."
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