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Dem Sen: Romney's Speech on Voting to Convict Trump Put 'Tears in My Eyes'

February 5, 2020

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) got choked up Wednesday while reflecting on Sen. Mitt Romney's (R., Utah) floor speech about voting to remove President Donald Trump from office.

"There were tears in my eyes, and there are again as I hear him say those words, but what I thought is I would really like my four children to be like that," he said on CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront.

Earlier in the day, Romney argued Trump was "guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust" and voted with Democrats to remove him from office, although their combined 48 votes were well below the two-thirds supermajority needed to convict in the Senate.

Blumenthal also told anchor Erin Burnett that it was a powerful moment when he himself voted in favor of removing Trump.

"It was a time, a moment when the full weight of my decision, conscience, and conviction hit me as well," Blumenthal said. "So when I watched Senator Romney say those words, I felt sincerity from him that I have rarely seen, unfortunately, on the floor of the Senate or in many other places from people in public life."

Romney was the only Republican senator to vote "guilty" on abuse of power, the first article of impeachment against Trump. The final vote on that article was 52 to 48, while Romney joined Republicans in shooting down the second article by a vote of 53 to 47.