Washington • Sen. Mitt Romney on Wednesday said “enough already” with President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that former Rep. Joe Scarborough, who is now an MSNBC host, was involved in the death of a staffer 19 years ago.
Romney didn’t mention Trump by name but said the attacks should end against Scarborough after a public plea by Timothy J. Klausutis, whose wife, Lori, fell and died while working in the then-congressman’s Florida office.
“I know Joe Scarborough. Joe is a friend of mine,” Romney tweeted. “I don't know T.J. Klausutis. Joe can weather vile, baseless accusations but T.J.? His heart is breaking. Enough already.”
Trump has been on a screed about opening up the “cold case” against Scarborough — there is no such case as the death was ruled accidental — including a tweet earlier Wednesday.
“Psycho Joe Scarborough is rattled, not only by his bad ratings but all of the things and facts that are coming out on the internet about opening a Cold Case. He knows what is happening!” Trump posted on Twitter.
Timothy Klausutis had penned an open letter to Twitter's chief executive, Jack Dorsey, begging him to remove a tweet by Trump “alluding to the repeatedly debunked falsehood that my wife was murdered by her boss, former U.S. Rep. Joe Scarborough.”
The widower noted that his wife, who had an undiagnosed heart condition, fell and hit her head in the congressional district office and died. Scarborough was in Washington, D.C. at the time.
Trump, under fire for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, has taken aim at various people in recent weeks, including once calling Romney a “LOSER” after the Utah Republican criticized Trump's firing of independent watchdogs at several U.S. departments.
The president on Tuesday said he hadn't seen the letter from Timothy Klausutis and didn't back down on raising his wife's death.
“I’m sure that ultimately they want to get to the bottom of it,” Trump said. “It’s a very suspicious thing.”
Romney and Trump have sparred multiple times in the past, though any semblance of an amicable relationship ended when Romney voted to convict the president of abuse of power in the impeachment trial. Trump has said he’s “no fan” of Romney and purposefully left him of an economic task force while including every other GOP senator.
