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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said Wednesday it's both "a little embarrassing" and "a little demeaning" for GOP leaders to show up outside a New York City courthouse in support of former President Donald Trump's claims that his criminal trial is a political persecution.
Romney, the Republican Party's 2012 presidential nominee, also had something to say about the upcoming debates agreed to Wednesday by Trump and President Joe Biden, comparing them to the pair of puppets that portray cantankerous elderly hecklers on "The Muppet Show."
The Utah Republican, who's not seeking reelection, was asked to comment about leaders of his party, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of Congress along with several vice presidential contenders, appearing outside Trump's "hush money" trial involving payments to an adult film actress.
"I think it's a little demeaning to show up in front of a courthouse, and particularly one where we're talking about an allegation of paying a porn star. It's really, really, very difficult to watch," Romney told reporters before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting in Washington.
He said that's because "there is a level of dignity and decorum that you expect from people who are running for the highest station in the land, and going out and prostrating themselves in front of the public to try and apparently curry favor with the person who's our nominee, it's a little embarrassing."
Trump's supporters in New York City are seen as stepping in for the former president who is under a gag order during his trial on felony charges of falsifying business records. Tuesday, the House speaker called the trial a "sham" and said, "It's all about politics."
Romney told HuffPost senior politics reporter Igor Bobic he was looking forward to watching Trump and Biden debate. "It'll be entertaining, informative. Like the two old guys on the 'Muppets,'" Bobic quoted Romney as saying in a post on social media platform X.
Bobic followed up with a post, noting: "Romney and Trump are the same age, 77."
CNN's Manu Raju posted on X that Romney added, "I read the polls like everybody else. I think Donald Trump is gonna win. Obviously, I've been saying all along he's going to be the nominee, and I think he has the substantial edge on the final contest."
Trump and Biden are now set to square off on CNN next month and again in September, spurning the Commission on Presidential Debates schedule that included an October debate at the University of Utah.
