Did Mitt Romney fulfill a Mormon prophecy with vote to convict Trump?
When Sen. Mitt Romney voted to convict President Donald Trump on Wednesday, the sole Republican to do so, some began to ask if he was fulfilling a Mormon prophecy of a church elder saving the United States Constitution.
The White Horse Prophecy says “Latter-day Saint elders will preserve the US Constitution as it hangs by a thread,” according to Brigham Young University. As soon as Romney announced his plans to vote to remove the president, people began asking if the Utah Republican was fulfilling those words.
Addressing the Senate on Wednesday, Romney said: “My promise before God to apply impartial justice required that I put my personal feelings and political biases aside.”
“Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented and disregard what I believe my oath and the Constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end, it would, I fear, expose my character to history’s rebuke and the censure of my own conscience,” he said, announcing his plans to vote to convict the president.
The prophecy has been shunned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “The so-called ‘White Horse Prophecy’ is based on accounts that have not been substantiated by historical research and is not embraced as Church doctrine,” the church said in 2010.
Will Bagley, a Salt Lake City historian, told the Los Angeles Times, “I think Mitt Romney is under the impression that he is going to be the white horse Republican who will save the country.”
“Whether or not that would happen is a different matter, but I think if it came down to picking between Mitt Romney and Mike Pence, most people would go with Romney,” said Bagley, who is frequently critical of the church.
Mormon Historical Association executive director Barbara Jones Brown tweeted, “In spite of fact that I don’t put stock in the hist accuracy of the so-called ‘White Horse prophecy,’ I could almost be convinced to be a believer after @SenatorRomney announced he’ll be the lone R Senator to do the right thing to vote to convict Trump, upholding the Constitution.”
A Mormon blog, By Common Consent, said on Twitter, “The White Horse Prophecy may have been debunked, but it is still good to see people acting out of conscience during desperate times.”
For his part, Romney said Wednesday, “I acknowledge that my verdict will not remove the president from office. The results of this Senate court will, in fact, be appealed to a higher court, the judgment of the American people. Voters will make the final decision, just as the president’s lawyers have implored.”
“My vote will likely be in the minority in the Senate, but irrespective of these things, with my vote, I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty to the best of my ability believing that my country expected it of me,” Romney said on the floor of the Senate.
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 10:56 AM.
