Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, adjusts a hat that he was given after a tour of Kenworth Sales in West Valley City on Nov. 12, 2021. Romney reportedly wears a hat when vacationing in Florida to avoid unwanted attention. (Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News)
New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns write in their new book “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future” that a family friend says the Utah Republican wears a hat while dining out in the wealthy oceanside town.
“If he were recognized by Trump supporters there, there was a good chance he would be harassed,” the authors wrote, according to Business Insider. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is also in Palm Beach.
Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, was a vocal critic of Trump before and after he took the White House.
On Jan. 5 2021, the day before the U.S. Capitol riot, Trump supporters accosted Romney at the Salt Lake International Airport as he waited for a flight to Washington, D.C. A woman in a video that went viral called him an “absolute joke” because he wasn’t supporting Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Passengers on the plane chanted “traitor” at the senator.
Romney was among seven Republican senators who voted to remove Trump from office for inciting an insurrection at the Capitol. He also voted to convict Trump in his first impeachment trial.
Wearing hats in public wasn’t Romney’s first attempt to conceal his identity. He admitted in 2019 to using a secret Twitter account under the name, “Pierre Delecto” to read political news, keep track of politicians, defend himself on social media and “like” critical tweets about Trump.
As some Republicans began to embrace Trump again after he left office, others — including Romney’s wife, Ann — were fearful for their safety, Martin and Burns wrote in the book, according to Business Insider. She told the authors that her five sons were proud of their father but unsure about the Republican Party.
“Trump’s dominance, she said, made it uncertain whether any of the boys could run for office as Republicans,” the authors wrote.
Romney was booed at the last two Utah Republican Party state conventions, including the one last month that he did not attend.
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