Romney Outs GOP Senators Who Opposed Bipartisan Gun Bill Following Uvalde Massacre Because It Was an Election Year

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) decided against running for re-election to his seat in the Senate, and with that monkey off his back, he spilled tea and named names in a new book about his career — including the GOP senators who put their own reelection first when discussing a bipartisan gun bill.

In Mitt Romney: A Reckoning by McKay Coppins, the author recounted the scene immediately following the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas in 2022. There was a sense, in Romney’s eyes, that in his position, he had a duty to do something, saying: “When you’re not in the Senate, you say to yourself, Someone ought to do something about that. When you’re in the Senate, it’s like Okay, one of us ought to do something about that.”

That led to Romney’s involvement in a bipartisan bill that would increase background checks and waiting periods on people under 21 looking to buy a gun, plus it would forbid anyone with a domestic violence conviction from owning a gun. On board were Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas plus Sens. Kyrsten Simena of Arizona and Chris Murphy of Connecticut representing the Democrats, with “both sides” coming together “in good faith.” But when Cornyn introduced the bill to the floor, several Republicans balked — because it was an election year:

[T]he senators took turns grumbling over the fact that they were being forced to vote on such a divisive bill in an election year. [Sen.] Ron Johnson [(R-WI)] protested that it was a “lose-lose” for his campaign. [Sen.] Mike Lee [(R-UT)] complained that he was in a tight race and would rather not be made to take a “bad vote.” As the conversation continued in this vein, Romney’s agitation mounted. Afterward he reported to his staff that every single point raised by his colleagues focused on the bill’s implications on the midterm elections — not on its substance, or whether it would prevent future gun deaths.

Romney was also quoted as saying: “I have come to recognize that the overwhelming consideration in how people vote is whether it will help or hurt their reelection prospects. … Amazing that a democracy can function like this.”