Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) believes that many of his Trump-backing colleagues in the Republican caucus – including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) – are cynical performance artists who don't really believe many of the outlandish things they say.
However, according to a new book being published about Romney by journalist McKay Coppins, the retiring Utah senator feels differently about Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI).
In an excerpt of Coppins' book, titled Romney: A Reckoning, that was published in The Atlantic this week, Romney grew reluctant to work with Cruz and Hawley after they continued to spout Trump's falsehoods about the 2020 election, even after those falsehoods led to a deadly riot at the United States Capitol building.
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"Romney drew a distinction between the Republican colleagues he viewed as sincerely crazy and those who were faking it for votes," writes Coppins. "He was open, for instance, to partnering with Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the conspiracy-spouting, climate-change-denying, anti-vax Trump disciple."
Romney decided he could work with Johnson even as he admitted that he could be "exasperating," Coppins writes.
"Once, Romney told me, after listening to an extended lecture on Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian business dealings, he blurted, 'Ron, is there any conspiracy you don’t believe?'" writes Coppins.
Romney: A Reckoning is due to be released on October 24th.
