Baker Says He Respects Romney’s Vote To Convict Trump

Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday he respects U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney's decision to break with his Republican colleagues and support removing President Donald Trump from office, but stopped short of saying other senators should have joined him.

One day after Romney made history as the only U.S. senator ever to vote in favor of removing a president of their own party from office, Baker said attention should now turn to the 2020 election.

"I've known Mitt Romney for a long time, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and I respect his decision," Baker told reporters at an unrelated event when asked about the former Massachusetts governor's vote. "Now it's going to be up to the voters to decide what they think about all this."

Romney on Wednesday voted "guilty" on the first article of impeachment alleging the president abused his power and voted "not guilty" on the second article alleging obstruction of Congress. Trump was acquitted by a 52-48 not guilty vote on the first article and a 53-47 not guilty vote on the second; a two-thirds vote was required for a conviction.

Baker, who in 2016 said he did not cast a vote in that year's presidential election, reiterated past comments that he believes Trump's alleged interactions with Ukrainian officials about the Biden family warranted investigation.

"I believe what the president did was wrong," Baker said. "I also believe that the entire process was a partisan mess preordained from the beginning."