Romney breaks from GOP again with criticism of Trump's Roger Stone decision

Mitt Romney.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is continuing to buck the majority of his party when it comes to criticizing President Trump.

Romney, who has frequently clashed with Trump throughout his presidency and became the only Republican senator to vote to convict the president during his impeachment trial earlier this year, on Saturday morning described Trump's decision to commute Roger Stone's sentence as an act of "unprecedented, historic corruption."

So far, several Democrats, including House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, have criticized the move, but Romney is the most prominent Republican to do so, and some analysts expect he'll be the only sitting lawmaker in the party to take such a stance.

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Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) supported Trump's decision, citing Stone's age which puts him at greater risk during the coronavirus pandemic. However, critics pointed that while Graham said Stone is in his 70s, he's actually 67, just two years older than Graham. Others noted there are thousands of incarcerated citizens around Stone's age who are at risk of contracting the virus in federal prisons. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.