Chachi may love Joanie, but he certainly doesn’t feel that way about Sen. Mitt Romney.
On Thursday, Romney ripped President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election, saying he could not “imagine a worse, more undemocratic action by a sitting president.” Romney also said Trump failed to make his case that the election was fraudulent.
Romney’s rebuke of Trump so angered actor Scott Baio, he took to Twitter where he threatened to run for Senate in 2024.
“Hey Mitt Romney, beautiful golf courses in Utah…...maybe I’ll move there, play a few rounds and unseat you,” wrote Baio.
Some found the idea of an actor known for “Happy Days,” “Charles in Charge,” “Bugsy Malone,” and “Diagnosis Murder” challenging the 2012 GOP presidential nominee ludicrous.
“Do it!,” said Will Ritter of POOLHOUSE, who consulted on Romney’s successful Senate campaign in 2018. “Nothing stopping you from declaring your candidacy next week, after you move to Utah and register to vote. Pro tip: might want to check the results from Romney’s 2018 election first.”
For what it’s worth, Baio is not the first celebrity to threaten to move to Utah to run against Romney as a punishment for him daring to go against Trump. Fox News host Laura Ingraham called for Romney to resign after he voted to remove Trump from office during his Senate impeachment trial, and suggested she might move to Utah to run against him in four years.
Romney’s statement drew other reactions on social media. Trump called Romney a RINO and wondered if he felt his loss to Barack Obama in 2012 was “fair and square.”
Closer to home, Provo artist Jon McNaughton, who is known for his fawning portrayal of Trump in his paintings, responded with a close-up of Romney from one of his paintings entitled “The Impeachment Mob.”
Romney had his defenders too.
Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake lauded Romney while hoping that other Republicans would soon join him.
Then there was former Democratic state Sen. Jim Dabakis, who attempted to praise Romney while heaping scorn on him at the same time. Dabakis called Romney “aloof, humorless and completely out of touch with working Utahns” before thanking him for standing up to Trump. However, Romney’s current chief of staff, Matt Waldrip, was not impressed.
Romney is one of the few prominent Republicans who has publicly pushed back against Trump’s efforts to cast doubt on the results of the presidential election. On Thursday, the Utah GOP gave a full-throated endorsement to Trump’s continuing legal challenges.
