Mitt Romney Takes Aim At Bernie Sanders, Says He’s ‘All Hat, No Cattle’ Following Democratic Debate

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney took to Twitter on Wednesday to blast Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders following Tuesday night’s CNN Democratic Party debate.

The 2012 Republican Party nominee for president took aim at Sanders’ demeanor and progressive policy stances. Sanders is a self-described Democratic Socialist.

“Asked why @BernieSanders is so angry, the answer is simple: 28 years in Congress and never able to pass even a scintilla of his socialist agenda,” Romney tweeted. “All hat, no cattle.”

During the Tuesday debate, Sanders was passionate as he defended his progressive policy proposals from attacks from more moderate Democrats on stage. Sanders started off on the defensive after CNN host Jake Tapper began the Tuesday night debate in Detroit with a question about his Medicare for All plan.

Sanders also defended Medicare for All against Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, quipping “I wrote the damn bill,” and said that Ryan was mischaracterizing his health care plan.

As Fox News notes, Sanders also called out CNN and said that amid the debate about health care reform that the network would be airing advertising from the health care industry. Tapper cut Sanders off, noting that he had run out of time, though Sanders finished his message to applause from the audience, per Fox News.

According to a report from The New York Times, Sanders along with fellow progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts came out as the perceived winners of the Tuesday night spectacle.

Others in attendance also commented on Sanders’ demeanor during the debate. Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan quipped that Sanders didn’t have to yell during the debate.

Tim Ryan to Bernie Sanders: "You don't have to yell" #DemDebate https://t.co/w6PEOgBufS pic.twitter.com/OvX6KdxylD

— The Hill (@thehill) July 31, 2019

Romney is no stranger to speaking out against his political opponents and has a varied in history in criticizing the 45th president, a fellow Republican.

In an op-ed for The Washington Post at the beginning of the year, Romney lashed out against Trump, calling his policies “misguided” and said that the president’s character was unfit for the White House.

“Trump’s words and actions have caused dismay around the world,” the 72-year-old senator wrote in the January 1 op-ed.

Still, Romney has sometimes shown support for Trump. An opinion piece from The Washington Post called the former presidential candidate spineless following his refusal to support to an impeachment inquiry into President Trump following the release of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. While Romney said that fellow Republican Rep. Justin Amash was “courageous” when he said the president had committed “impeachable conduct,” Romney refused to support impeachment, citing public opinion and politics.

Following a chant at a rally for the president’s re-election in July that called to send Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, back to her home country Somalia, which she fled as a refugee as a child, Romney took to Twitter to condemn the rhetoric. The senator commended the president for “disavowing” the chant, though as Time notes, the president later walked back his criticism of his rally-goers’ chant.

The chants at last night’s rally were offensive, and I’m glad the President has disavowed them.

— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) July 18, 2019