Exactly. This isn’t about ideology. The trouble is Hatch’s slavish devotion to Trump, kowtowing even when the likes of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) express misgivings. Yes, Romney briefly had kind words for Trump when Trump was considering him for secretary of state. But Hatch’s nonstop adulation of Trump legitimizes the president’s vulgarity and attacks on democratic institutions.
Consider Hatch’s applause for Matthew Petersen, one of three Trump judicial nominees who withdrew this month amid doubts about their credentials. The patently unqualified Petersen, who has never prosecuted or defended a case, was humiliated during questioning by Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.), who exposed his ignorance of basic courtroom procedures. And Hatch? He scolded his fellow Judiciary Committee members for being “unfair.”
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