Hillary Clinton campaign alumni and other liberals furiously took to Twitter on Tuesday to vent their frustrations with the idea that Mitt Romney could run for the Senate in Utah, saying he should take up "knitting" instead.
With Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) announcing Tuesday that he will retire at the end of his current term, speculation began anew about whether Romney, the last major-party nominee to lose a presidential election before Clinton in 2016, would run for the seat this year.
Reports that Romney could run for Hatch's seat if he decided to retire in 2018 have floated for months. Romney, a Republican, is popular in Utah and carried the red state easily when he ran for president in 2012.
Nevertheless, Clinton alumni and boosters—like former press secretary Brian Fallon, Nick Morrow, and Eric Boehlert—decried what they viewed as a double standard for Clinton and Romney.
Fallon wrote that Romney should focus on knitting rather than politics, referencing a Vanity Fair video last month in which writers jokingly offered New Year's resolutions for Clinton, including one female writer who suggested she could take up knitting.
Though it was part of a series of videos mocking other politicians and Vanity Fair is an openly left-leaning publication, Clinton backers and other liberals ripped the joke as sexist, and the magazine subsequently apologized.
Morrow also criticized what he described as a double standard for Clinton and Romney, decrying the knitting joke and joining a list of several Clinton backers who gave their thoughts on the 2012 GOP nominee possibly reentering the political arena.
Romney loses WH run. DC press: of course he should run for Senate.
Hillary loses WH run. DC press: why won't she just go awaaaaay?
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) January 2, 2018
it's. almost. like. there. are. diff. rules. for. her.
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) January 2, 2018
Mitt Romney may run for Senate? I thought failed presidential candidates were only allowed to take up knitting.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) January 2, 2018
Strange how losing male presidential candidate Mitt Romney is being immediately discussed as a replacement for Orrin Hatch’s senate seat and isn’t being told to take up knitting!
— Nick Morrow (@NRMorrow) January 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/KaivanShroff/status/948281103034474496
https://twitter.com/politicalmiller/status/948278215537319936
Mitt Romney lost in 2012 against Barack Obama and the media wants him to run for office again.
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and they told her to take up knitting.
— Denizcan James (@MrFilmkritik) January 2, 2018
Maybe Mitt Romney should take up knitting
— Jessica Mason Pieklo (@Hegemommy) January 2, 2018
Wait....Mitt Romney doesn’t have to take up knitting?
— 'Celia" (@_celia_bedelia_) January 2, 2018
What’s this gonna be, Mitt Romney’s 8th shot? Why can’t he just accept that he lost? Why doesn’t he find another hobby like knitting or hiking in the woods? Doesn’t he have a black grandbaby to raise? Why is he a septuagenarian still going by Mitt? Go be a granddaddy, Willard.
— Rae Sanni (@raesanni) January 2, 2018
It's going to be hard for Mitt Romney to run for the Senate with all the knitting he should be doing. pic.twitter.com/nk5t1ejJ4E
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) January 2, 2018
Isn't Mitt Romney supposed to take up knitting and go away forever? Or is that just Dem women?
— JL (@JessieLahrr) January 2, 2018
🔥🔥🔥
Tweet of 2018 👇 https://t.co/ozb1AJp7qu— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) January 2, 2018