Mitt Romney: The return of Trump would feed the 'sickness' of 'deceit and distrust'

In a 4th of July column for the Atlantic, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) lamented the state of the nation where the two major parties are talking past each other and singled out Donald Trump for "feeding" into the "sickness" gripping the country.

Romney, one of the few Republican lawmakers to vote against the former president in his second impeachment, which he followed with a statement that read in part, "After careful consideration of the respective counsels’ arguments, I have concluded that President Trump is guilty of the charge made by the House of Representatives. President Trump attempted to corrupt the election by pressuring the Secretary of State of Georgia to falsify the election results in his state," expressed unhappiness with both the former president and the current one, Joe Biden.

As the Utah Republican sees it, neither side of the aisle can seem to work together to deal with he calls the "cataclysmic threats" the country faces.

"The left thinks the right is at fault for ignoring climate change and the attacks on our political system. The right thinks the left is the problem for ignoring illegal immigration and the national debt. But wishful thinking happens across the political spectrum. More and more, we are a nation in denial," he wrote.

RELATED: 'He knows that this is all a lie': Trump insider claims ex-president told him he's 'playacting'

Adding that in the past it has taken a national crisis like Pearl Harbor or 9/11 to bring the country together, he lamented, "But a crisis may come too late for a course correction that can prevent tragedy."

"President Joe Biden is a genuinely good man, but he has yet been unable to break through our national malady of denial, deceit, and distrust," he wrote. "A return of Donald Trump would feed the sickness, probably rendering it incurable. Congress is particularly disappointing: Our elected officials put a finger in the wind more frequently than they show backbone against it. Too often, Washington demonstrates the maxim that for evil to thrive only requires good men to do nothing."

He concluded, "I hope for a president who can rise above the din to unite us behind the truth. Several contenders with experience and smarts stand in the wings; we intently watch to see if they also possess the requisite character and ability to bring the nation together in confronting our common reality."

You can read the whole piece here.