Romney slammed Trump over decision to pull troops from Syria

GOP Sen.-elect Mitt Romney said he wrote a blistering criticism of President Trump in an opinion piece because of the commander-in-chief’s decision to pull US troops out of Syria.

“I think it’s important, as I begin this new job, to make it very clear where I stand. And I also note that the departure of Secretary (James) Mattis and the decision to pull out of Syria and the abrupt way it was done was a precipitating event for my finally going on this record,” Romney told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday.

Romney, who will be sworn in Thursday as Utah’s newest senator, said he will support Trump when he agrees with his policies and will speak out when he disagrees.

“But in matters that relate to the divisiveness that’s been part of our political environment, I’ll speak out if I feel a need to, if there is something significant,” he said, pointing to Trump’s backing of Roy Moore in the Senate race in Alabama, his comments about hate groups in Charlottesville, Va., and references to the media as the enemy of the people.

“I think it’s very important for a president to demonstrate the qualities of integrity and honesty, forthrightness, empathy and respect for the institutions of our democratic republic,” he said.

Romney, the Republican presidential candidate in 2012 who lost to Barack Obama, wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post published Tuesday evening that criticized Trump for not rising to the “mantle of the office.”

Trump responded to Romney on Wednesday in a tweet and during a cabinet meeting in the White House.

He reminded those attending that he endorsed Romney in his Senate run.

Asked if he would return the favor, Romney demurred.

“He was endorsing me, and I wasn’t endorsing him,” Romney said.

He wouldn’t say who he would back in 2020 but ruled out a run of his own.

“No. You may have heard I ran before,” he said. “I’ve had that experience. And, by the way, I acknowledge the president was successful. And I was not. He did something I couldn’t do. He won. And I recognize that and appreciate that. But no, I’m not running again. And we’ll see whether someone else does in a Republican primary or not.”

Romney’s niece, Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, took her uncle to task for the opinion piece.

“POTUS is attacked and obstructed by the MSM media and Democrats 24/7. For an incoming Republican freshman senator to attack @realdonaldtrump as their first act fees into what the Democrats and media want and is disappointing and unproductive,” McDaniel tweeted Wednesday morning.

Asked if he was surprised by her response, Romney said she has a duty to defend the president in her position.

“She has a right to express her opinion,” he said.