Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney has said he would not vote for Donald Trump, but what is keeping him from endorsing Kamala Harris for president?
Perhaps, biblically speaking, the answer can be found in a second letter to Timothy in which the Apostle Paul gives a long, scathing description of a group of people and in no uncertain terms says “avoid such people.”
These people will be “Lovers of self, lovers of money, arrogant, abusive ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable. slanderous, without self-control, brutal, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.”
What does that have to do with Romney and Trump?
Mitt Romney is quite a powerful person. His father, George Romney, was quite powerful too. Before entering politics,the elder Romney was the president of American Motors. From 1963 to 1969, he was the governor of Michigan. In 1968, he was defeated as the Republican nominee for president by Richard Nixon.
Mitt followed in his father’s footsteps. Before entering politics, he was the chief operating officer of Bain Capital. From 2003 to 2007, he was the governor of Massachusetts. In 2012 he became the Republican nominee for president and was defeated by Barack Obama. He has been the senator from Utah since 2019.
That’s quite a powerful family. But the Utah senator has cited the dangers of Trump-inspired political violence many times over the years. He has cited concern for his family’s safety as one of the reasons he has not publicly supported Kamala Harris. In an interview with The Atlantic, he said, “How am I going to protect 25 grandkids, two great-grandkids, five sons and five daughters-in-law?”
Romney’s fear of Trump began after the Jan. 6 riot, when he started paying $5,000 a day for private security for his family. Threats and intimidation by MAGA insurrectionists have been going on for some time. Perhaps these MAGATTS are not aware that Apostle Paul’s description of people to avoid was a reference to them and their despicable leader. Unlike Trump’s lies, the above facts can be corroborated.
I’ve been around for quite some time and who would believe that in America, death threats would be made against individuals who supported political candidates they oppose, especially for the highest presidential contest, even against some of the most powerful individuals in America. As for Trump’s political cronies, as Shakespeare would say, when is a lie not a lie?
When Trump tells these power-hungry traitors what to do and they shamelessly and dutifully follow their dictator wannabe. As Americans, we should not only “avoid such people,” but we should throw them all out of office, or better yet, out the windows.
Alvin Goldberg
Great Neck
