Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who voted twice to convict former President Trump on impeachment charges, is ruling out voting for Trump in 2024, citing a court’s finding that the former president sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.
Romney’s announcement that he won’t vote for Trump isn’t surprising. But it does show him sharpening his rhetoric against the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination by saying the reason for his opposition is a Manhattan jury’s finding last year that Trump sexually abused and defamed Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages.
A New York jury also ordered Trump last month to pay Carroll $83 million for defamation by claiming he never met her.
Trump said last month he would appeal the ruling, which he called “absolutely ridiculous” and an example of the legal system being used as a “political weapon.”
Romney, however, highlighted the court’s finding as “a line” he would “not cross” this November.
“I will not be voting for President Trump. I must admit that I find sexual assault to be a line I will not cross in the people I select to be my president,” he told reporters at the Utah Capitol.
The court’s finding was in a civil lawsuit and not a criminal conviction.
Romney made a similar comment to The Hill on Tuesday, indicating he will zero in on the verdict amidst all of Trump’s other legal problems.
The former president faces 91 felony charges in four separate criminal prosecutions.
“We have a guy running for president who was found guilty of sexual assault. Call me old fashioned but I kind of draw the line at that,” he said.
Romney has offered hints about how he’ll vote in this year’s presidential election.
In December, he didn’t rule out voting for President Biden, warning that Trump is “dangerous for the country” and holds “authoritarian rulings in interests.”
Romney told CBS in November that the other Republican candidates running for president were acceptable to him, except for entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
He did not vote for Trump in 2020.