Utah voters, please consider the following as you ponder your choices for U.S. senator.
At the 2016 Republican national convention, Mike Lee strongly opposed the nomination of Donald Trump. In the national election that followed, Lee did not endorse Trump and, instead, voted for then-Republican candidate Evan McMullin.
When Trump was elected president, Lee, sensing the shift in political winds, maneuvered to repair his reputation among Trump supporters by cultivating Trump’s favor. Lee’s efforts to prove his allegiance to Trump culminated in the weeks after the 2020 general election when he joined the ranks of the so-called “Trump crazies,” Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Ginny Thomas (wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas) among others who schemed to overturn Joe Biden’s victory and return Trump to the White House.
Lee’s fealty to Trump was on full display when, on November 20, he texted Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, “Please give me something to work with. I just need to know what I should be saying.”
Meanwhile, contrary to the idea that our government officials serve by consent of the governed, Lee and the other “crazies” plotted to replace duly appointed Electoral College Biden electors with fake Trump electors. Not a good look for someone sworn to uphold our Constitution and further evidence that, for Lee, job preservation takes precedence over preservation of our democracy.
A review of Lee’s record on key Senate votes reveals an unusual preponderance of “no” votes, suggesting, perhaps, a contrarian or intransigent style of governing (some would call it grandstanding), not an asset when compromise leads to progress even when complete victory is not achievable.
While rigidity and obstinacy may be advantageous in some professions, politics is not one of them. Among the important bills passed by the 2021 Senate despite Lee’s “no” votes were the National Defense Authorization Act, the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, and the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, all laws that are good for Utahns.
It is interesting to note that, in 2013, Lee voted against federal disaster relief for Atlantic coast victims of Hurricane Sandy and “no” again, in 2017, for relief for Texas victims of Hurricane Harvey. He was a no-show recently when a vote was taken on relief for Florida’s victims of Hurricane Ian. All three relief bills passed, demonstrating that compassion prevails, at least in most of our country.
I wonder how Lee would vote on relief legislation for Utahns should the Wasatch Fault slip and level Salt Lake City.
Lee’s public outbursts are embarrassing. Appearing on Fox News in March of 2021, Lee said that the For the People Act was “rotten to the core” and was “as if written in Hell by the devil himself.” Hardly. The bill would have, among other things, expanded voting rights, reduced the influence of money in political campaigns and banned partisan gerrymandering, but it languishes in the Senate to this day, blocked by a Republican filibuster.
Another example of Lee’s hyperbole occurred on October 28, 2020, at a Trump campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona. Lee addressed the crowd saying “To my Mormon friends, my Latter-day Saint friends, think of him,” he said, gesturing toward Trump, “as Captain Moroni.”
Captain Moroni, a character in LDS scripture, was a military hero, a man of great integrity. Donald Trump is a liar, an adulterer, a draft dodger (bone spurs), a cheater (at golf and taxes), a scammer (Trump University) and a grabber of female private parts. Any resemblance between the two men is an illusion.
Utahns, we can do better. Vote for Evan McMullin.
Allan W. Smart
Allan W. Smart worked in Kansas, Delaware and Montana as a writer, editor and university administrator before retiring and returning to his home state of Utah.