Former Massachusetts governor and current Utah Senator Mitt Romney made headlines Sunday after splitting, again, with the consensus of his Republican colleagues and joining Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
Speaking on Boston Public Radio Wednesday, CNN analyst and national security expert Juliette Kayyem weighed in on Romney’s decision to join the protests, and whether she believes the senator is worthy of praise and recognition from the left.
"I’ve been very generous on this,” she admitted, joking that “it’s not sort of a nostalgia for a different kind of Republican, who we hated at the time but now we’ll take them.”
Speaking of Romney, who called the killing of George Floyd “a heinous murder carried out by a person with a badge,” Kayyem said "I think one should applaud people willing to take a stand in this environment.”
She added, though, that the senator's bipartisan endorsement was a testament to strength and effectiveness of the Black Lives Matter movement as a whole.
"I think they also should be given credit for Romney marching, and making it clear that the moment is now," she said.
Continuing with her praise of the movement, Kayyem said “this is the amazing this about Black Lives Matter. I think it says as much about the Black Lives Matter movement and how successful and amazing and tactical and sophisticated they have been."
Kayyem also credited Republicans in the Lincoln Project for producing a series of attack ads against the president, and lamented that Democrats haven’t been as aggressive in speaking out against the Trump Administration and its attempts to dismiss and silence peaceful protesters.
"Romney has made clear… enough,” she said, "that the system cannot hold if Trump wins a second term. That the system will be so skewed, and off. And good for him, and good for the 'Never Trump' Republicans who are putting out these ads that put Democrats to shame. I’m like, literally, ‘what’s wrong with my party?’"
