Trump on Romney march with protesters: ‘Tremendous sincerity, what a guy’

President Trump on Monday weighed in on video of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) marching with protesters in Washington, D.C., a day earlier and saying “black lives matter.”

“Tremendous sincerity, what a guy. Hard to believe, with this kind of political talent, his numbers would ‘tank’ so badly in Utah!” Trump tweeted.

Tremendous sincerity, what a guy. Hard to believe, with this kind of political talent, his numbers would “tank” so badly in Utah! https://t.co/KqHsHmSRKo

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2020

Many interpreted the president’s tweet as sarcastic, given his long-running feud with Romney, who has an approval rating above 50 percent in Utah. The senator was the lone Republican to vote to convict Trump on one of two articles of impeachment earlier this year.

Romney was also the only Republican senator not to be included on the president’s advisory group of lawmakers for reopening the country from the shutdown induced by the coronavirus pandemic. Trump later acknowledged the decision showed he was holding a grudge over the impeachment vote.

In March, Trump appeared to sarcastically react to Romney going into quarantine after another GOP senator tested positive for coronavirus, saying “gee, that’s too bad.” Trump then denied he was being sarcastic.

Romney on Sunday joined the scores of protesters marching in the nation’s capital in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

“We need a voice against racism. We need many voices against racism and against brutality. And we need to stand up and say ‘black lives matter,’ ” Romney told a reporter, explaining his decision to join the protests.

Romney is the most prominent Republican official to date to join the protests and explicitly state that “black lives matter.”

Trump spent the weekend repeating his calls for “law and order” and downplaying the size of the crowd in D.C., where tens of thousands of people descended on the streets near the White House as demonstrations stretch into a second week.