Special to WorldTribune.com
President-Elect Donald Trump may be about to make a big mistake — the first one of his presidential transition. And the damage could be enormous.
As a staunch Trump supporter and America First nationalist, I am urging that he not pick — under any circumstances — Mitt Romney to be secretary of state. Media reports claim that the 2012 GOP presidential nominee is the front-runner for the post.
The Republican establishment is fiercely lobbying Trump to select Romney, arguing it would go a long way toward uniting a fractured GOP that was bitterly divided by the election. In other words, if the president-elect wants to bring on board the Never Trump Republicans the price is a steep one: RINO Romney.
The former Massachusetts governor doesn’t deserve such a crucial post. He has little substantive foreign policy experience. Moreover, he is a cynical opportunist and a traitor, who did everything possible to defeat Trump. He repeatedly defamed the Donald, smearing him as a “phony,” “fraud” and a “racist” who is “unfit” to be president.
During the campaign, Romney delivered several high-profile speeches urging Republicans not to vote for Trump — effectively, acting as a de facto surrogate for Hillary Clinton.
Selecting Romney would not only reward Trump’s enemies, but also demoralize his voters. It would send a dangerous message: He is not serious about draining the Washington swamp.
Romney is a creature of the establishment, a RINO globalist who on most issues is closer to Hillary than to Trump.
Iraq, Libya, Syria and Russia — Romney has shown he is a reckless hawk who supports endless wars in the Middle East and dangerous confrontation with Moscow.
Like Hillary, he is obsessed with bringing down secular Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad. And like Hillary, he wants to impose a U.S. no-fly zone over that war-ravaged land. There is only one problem: This would require shooting down Russian planes. Moscow’s forces are in Syria at the invitation of Assad’s government.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has warned that any American action against Russian fighter jets would trigger a military response. Romney’s militarism would potentially pave the way for World War III. He has no business being anywhere near the State Department, least of all running it.
Romney is a washed-up RINO hack. He lost a very winnable election against President Obama. Yet, in his opposition to Trump, Romney revealed something important about himself and, by extension, the venal GOP establishment:
Had he been half as critical of Obama in 2012 as he was of Trump in 2016, Romney would be occupying the Oval Office today. Instead, he pulled his punches against a left-wing globalist Democrat, while vilifying a nationalist Republican.
Romney’s allegiance is to the donor class — the corporate interests and transnational Wall Street elites that dominate both parties — not the grass roots of the GOP. In short, he embodies everything Trump and his supporters despise. Romney is Judas masquerading as Captain America.
Ultimately, Romney’s ascension at Foggy Bottom would only serve to resuscitate the dying, discredited Beltway Republicans. It would give Romney a powerful position within the Trump administration from which the RINOs could wage ceaseless, covert political war.
The titular head of the Never Trumpers would be able to subvert Trump’s agenda, acting as a constant source of anonymous media leaks and posing as a rival (along with House Speaker Paul Ryan) for the mantle of Republican leadership.
Trump’s great achievement is that he won the GOP nomination and then the presidency despite the establishment’s ferocious hostility. He does not need them; rather, they need him.
Trump is the future; Romney is the past. He is part of the decaying, rotten old order that Trump smashed. Romney should stay where he belongs: in the rubble.
Jeffrey T. Kuhner is a columnist at WorldTribune.com and the host of “The Kuhner Report” weekdays 12-3 pm EST on WRKO AM-680 in Boston.
Memorandum for the President-elect: You are the future, leave Mitt Romney in the past added by World Tribune on
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