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

(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 has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.