Mitt Romney took to Facebook today to thank his “friend, Orrin Hatch for his more than forty years of service to our great state and nation”. Romney went on to praise the US Senator from Utah for his service to our nation, saying: “As Chairman of the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees and as the longest-serving Republican Senator in U.S. history, Senator Hatch has represented the interests of Utah with distinction and honor. Ann and I wish Senator Orrin Hatch and his loving wife Elaine all the best in their future endeavors.”
Rumors have been swirling around social media for months now that the very unpopular “never-Trumper” Mitt Romney was considering running for Senate in Utah if Orin Hatch announced his retirement. While Romney may be very unpopular with Trump supporters after he showed his true colors when he went after then-candidate Donald J. Trump, with more passion than he went after his presidential opponent Barack Obama in 2012, he remains popular with the massive Mormon population in Utah.
Here is Romney’s Facebook post:
Here are just a few of the responses that got the most “likes” under Romney’s Facebook post:
Criticism of Romney wasn’t limited to Facebook. Shortly after the news of Romney considering running for Hatch’s Senate seat in Utah, Twitter exploded.
Here are just a few of the comments directed at the “never-Trumper” Mitt Romney, with the trending hashtag #NeverRomney.
https://twitter.com/mike_Zollo/status/948283073354977281
https://twitter.com/davis1988will/status/948299619485831169
The very popular conservative Joe Walsh went as far as to threaten to move to Utah and run against Romney if he announces he’s running:
Somebody in Utah better step up and stop this Senate seat from being handed to @MittRomney, or I'm going to move to Utah and challenge the feckless, elitist Mitt Romney myself.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) January 2, 2018
Many Republicans accused Romney of helping Hillary Clinton to win the 2016 election while trashing Donald Trump.
https://twitter.com/michaelbeatty3/status/948277988419764224
https://twitter.com/CuteScarley/status/948273865318453248
https://twitter.com/_Makada_/status/948301986612563968
https://twitter.com/jcpenni7maga/status/948292121466941440