Former RNC Chair Calls CPAC Conference ‘Embarrassing, Stupid And Juvenile’ For Publicly Uninviting Mitt Romney

The former head of the Republican National Committee blasted one of the most influential conservative organizations for publicly uninviting Mitt Romney from its annual conference after the Utah senator voted in favor of witnesses at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

Romney was one of two Republicans to join Democrats in voting to hear from witnesses at the trial, a measure that ultimately failed as enough Republicans held together to defeat the motion. The vote now sets the stage for the end of Trump’s trial and his likely acquittal, but Romney is still facing consequences for his vote.

After he joined Democrats in calling for witnesses, Romney came under fire from the Conservative Political Action Conference, which took to Twitter to boast that he would not be invited to this year’s conference. That did not sit well with Michael Steele, the former RNC chair who has since become a vocal critic of Trump. He called the public slam of Romney “embarrassing, stupid and juvenile” in responding to the tweet.

This is embarrassing, stupid and juvenile. #respect https://t.co/99fIgofsiB

— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) February 1, 2020

As USA Today reported, the CPAC conference moving to bar Romney from attending is significant. The conference is one of the most important gatherings of conservatives, and Romney had previously spoken at the conference as the party’s 2012 presidential nominee and until this week had been in good standing with the organization.

But CPAC has since shifted sharply in favor of Trump, who has spoken there each of the last three years. Trump, who has been known for sharp attacks on critics, has been especially pointed when attacking Republicans who defy him, and many of the president’s supporters have followed suit in publicly shunning what he refers to as “Never Trumpers.”

Steele has been one of the most vocal critics of Trump on the right and has not been afraid to criticize the president’s supporters at times as well. As The Inquisitr reported last year, Steele took aim at evangelical voters who support Trump, a group that the former RNC chair said was hypocritical.

Steele accused these voters of overlooking Trump’s glaring moral flaws because he can help move the Supreme Court toward a more favorable balance for their political causes.

“This motherf**ker comes along defiling the White House and disrespecting God’s children at every turn, but it’s cool, because he gave them two Supreme Court justices,” he said.

Romney’s office did not comment on the apparent ban from the CPAC conference, USA Today reported.