Sen. Mitt Romney has announced that he supports voting on a Trump nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy before the election.
In a statement shared early Tuesday that was met with immediate push back from the left, Romney alleged that his decision had been made "based on the immutable fairness of following the law, which in this case is the constitution and precedent." Romney specifically stated that, should a nominee reach the Senate floor, he intends "to vote based upon their qualifications."
Speaking with reporters, Romney—perhaps best known for his cowardice—sprinkled in some additional comments about "strict constructionists" and conservatism and whatnot.
"I prefer choosing those folks who are, if you will, strict constructionists," Romney said. "Meaning that they look at the law itself and the constitution as opposed to looking into the sky and pulling out ideas they think may be more appropriate than either the law or the constitution. So I recognize that we may have a court which has more of a conservative bent than it's had over the last few decades but my liberal friends have—over many decades—gotten very used to the idea of having a liberal court and that's not written in the stars."
Romney's move means Senate Majority Mitch McConnell now has the support needed to move ahead with a nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last week at the age of 87.
And while this doesn't technically outright secure that nominee being confirmed, it's indeed a bad omen and represents a potential worst case scenario as previously warned by a number of concerned Americans in the wake of RBG's tragic death. Romney had become something of a liberal darling in recent months, after multiple instances in which he publicly criticized Trump. It's safe to say the honeymoon is over.
