CPAC Chair Who Disinvited Mitt Romney From Conference Said His ‘Physical Safety’ Would Be At Risk There
The chair of the Conservative Political Action Conference who publicly disinvited Mitt Romney from the organization’s annual conference after his vote to allow witnesses at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial said he would be afraid for the Utah senator’s “physical safety” if he were to attend the event.
Matt Schlapp lashed out at Romney for breaking ranks with Republicans and voting to allow witnesses during the trial, a measure that ultimately failed. Romney would later become the only member of the Republican Party to vote to convict Trump, who would ultimately be acquitted. As The Huffington Post reported, Schlapp made the warning against Romney in an interview this weekend, saying he could not guarantee that the former Republican Party presidential nominee would even be safe if he attended. The report added that Schlapp’s original tweet declaring that Romney was disinvited from the conference appeared dark and ominous.
Romney has been featured at the CPAC conference a number of times in the past, including 2012 when he delivered a keynote address ahead of the presidential election, but now has become persona non grata with the organization. In the interview with Greta Van Susteren, Schlapp said that Romney would only be able to attend this year as a nonconservative.
“We won’t credential him as a conservative. I suppose if he wants to come as a nonconservative and debate an issue with us, maybe in the future we would have him come. This year, I would actually be afraid for his physical safety because people hate him so much,” Schlapp said.
The apparent threat is the latest bit of backlash that Romney has faced since his vote to convict Trump. As The Inquisitr reported earlier this week, the White House circulated anti-Romney talking points to supporters and surrogates for the president calling on them to attack his character in the wake of the vote. Trump himself appeared to take aim at Romney’s faith while delivering remarks at a National Prayer Breakfast, claiming he was falsely hiding behind it.
Romney also came under attack from other members of the White House inner circle including Donald Trump Jr., who shared an image on Instagram that called Romeny a “p*ssy” for his vote.
“Mitt Romney is forever bitter that he will never be POTUS. He was too weak to beat the Democrats then so he’s joining them now,” he wrote. “He’s now officially a member of the resistance & should be expelled from the GOP.”