Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) backed President Trump’s offer to provide Mexico with military assistance to root out drug cartels operating along the border between the two countries on Tuesday after nine members of a family with dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship were murdered.
Romney told reporters on Capitol Hill that the Mexican government must “go after” the cartel gunmen responsible for killing nine members of a Mormon family, all women and young children, in what authorities are reportedly investigating as a case of possible mistaken identity.
“It’s moms and children. This is really unthinkable. And I agree with the president when he says that Mexico needs to really knuckle down and go after these cartels, and stop this escalating levels of violence,” Romney said.
“And [I] hope that if there’s a way we can help in that effort, that we are called upon to do so,” he added.
Romney added in the press gaggle that he had seen no evidence thus far to suggest a motive for the killings, and suggested they could be the result of random cartel-related violence.{mosads}
His remarks are more toned-down than those of Trump, who tweeted earlier Tuesday that the U.S. was ready to “wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth.”
“We merely await a call from your great new president!” Trump added.
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador appeared to dismiss the prospect of accepting U.S. aid against the cartels at a press conference on Tuesday, saying that while Mexico appreciates the offer, “it’s not in agreement with our convictions. The worst thing is war.”