Mitt Romney says most Republicans won't question Trump because they want to 'preserve' their power

Mitt Romney.
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is one of the only GOP lawmakers publicly asking questions about President Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and he's pretty sure he knows why.

"I think it's very natural for people to look at circumstances and see them in the light that's most amenable to their maintaining power, and doing things to preserve that power," Romney said during an appearance Wednesday at The Atlantic Festival.

Earlier in the day, he told reporters the partial transcript of the call is "deeply troubling," and the Senate is "also looking at the testimony of the whistleblower." These comments echoed sentiments he tweeted on Sunday, when Romney said, "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 to the extreme. Critical for the facts to come out."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.