Senate

Romney chides GOP lawmakers at Trump trial: ‘Very difficult to watch’

by Tara Suter - 05/15/24 2:41 PM ET

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney (R) criticized fellow members of his party who have recently gone to former President Trump’s hush money trial in New York.

“I think it’s a little demeaning to show up in front of a courthouse and — particularly one where we’re talking about an allegation of paying a porn star,” Romney said in a Wednesday video clip from Politico.

Romney’s disapproving comments follow reported similar words from fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) on their GOP colleagues visiting Trump’s trial in New York. The Utah Republican also called his fellow party members attending Trump’s trial “very difficult to watch.”

“There is a level of dignity and decorum that you expect of people who are running for the highest station in the land, and going out and prostrating themselves in front of the public to try and apparently curry favor with the person who’s our nominee, it’s a little embarrassing,” Romney said.

Republicans who have joined the former president at his hush money trial recently include House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.); former GOP presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy; Sens. JD Vance (Ohio), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) and Rick Scott (Fla.); and Rep. Byron Donalds (Fla.).

Johnson pushed back against the hush money trial in remarks outside the Manhattan courthouse Tuesday.

“This is the fifth week that President Trump has been in court for this sham of a trial. They are doing this intentionally to keep him here and keep him off of the campaign trail,” Johnson said. “And I think everybody in the country can see that for what it is.”

Trump’s New York hush money trial began last month, marking the first criminal trial of an American president. The former president has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to reimbursements to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who paid an adult film actor $130,000 prior to the 2016 election to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump, which he denies.