Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) expressed his amusement towards a well-known slogan embraced by former President Donald Trump and his followers: “American First.”
During an interview with MSNBC, Romney conveyed his disbelief at the possibility of the Republican Party succumbing to a “growing isolationism,” which he attributed to the influence of “talk TV” and talk radio. He specifically highlighted commentator Tucker Carlson as an example. Romney pointed out that Carlson often utters outrageous statements, to which the base responds with agreement, stating, “Yeah, exactly.”
Romney continued:
“Many in our party have followed that populist streak, which is, ‘Hey, stop worrying about the rest of the world, just worry about what’s going on here.’ What they’re forgetting is that we are connected to the rest of the world, that our economy is connected to the rest of the world. That if we had had that attitude then, you know, Germany would’ve ended up ruling the world. We’re involved in the world out of our own self-interest, and I laugh at the phrase ‘America First.’ I know it typically means isolationism, but really, America is putting ourselves first when we’re involved in the world, when we stop bad people. Look, if Vladimir Putin goes, not just through Ukraine, but then decides to go into Poland, then we’re involved in a conflict with our sons and daughters going to war. Or we could walk away from NATO, in which case Putin is going to keep on going and going.”
Finally, Romney said, “How about a world where China and Russia control the world, and we have our own little island? That’s not a world where Americans are going to be safe or prosperous. We’re safe and prosperous when the world follows the orders that have existed over the last 75 years, with a strong NATO, strong allies, strong friends, and when America stands for something like freedom.”
Watch:
https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1791301439614284285