Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), who didn’t back Donald Trump in the Republican primaries, says he doesn’t expect to always fall in line with the president-elect when he replaces outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) in the Senate next month.
“Look, I support President Trump when he’s dealing with some of these really tough issues that we have, the economy and the conflicts overseas. But I do have my own mind and I’m not a rubber stamp,” said Curtis in an interview with Jonathan Karl on ABC News’ “This Week.”
“My stamp is the stamp of the state of Utah and I represent those people.”
Curtis was elected to replace Romney after pulling away with a victory in a crowded primary field that saw him beat Trent Staggs, a Trump-backed GOP candidate and mayor of Riverton, Utah.
He criticizedTrump at times in Congress and slammed the president-elect for encouraging an “act of domestic terrorism” in response to the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack. Yet he voted against both of Trump’s impeachments.
Prior to arriving in the Senate, he opposed Trump’s attorney general pick Matt Gaetz before the former congressman eventually withdrew his name from consideration amid backlash.
Curtis, when asked by Karl about Romney’s willingness to “stand up against his own party’s leadership,” noted that it’s important that Trump is “wildly successful” but that doesn’t mean he’ll always agree with him.
“So the best description for me is — is normal,” said Curtis when asked about labels like “MAGA Republican,” “Romney Republican,” and “McCain Republican.”
Curtis, who received more votes than Trump in Utah, declared that he can’t advise the president-elect on his Cabinet picks without having “thoroughly” spoken with his nominees.
“And I think the better job I do, the better president he will be,” he said.
Karl later shared a message to critics who called on him to “just get in line” with Trump already.
“Anybody who wants to give me heat for doing my job, bring it on. This is my job. It’s my constitutional responsibility,” Curtis said.
“These same people are the same people who would have said earlier, ‘You need to take power back from the executive branch. You need to do your job.’ I have heard that from these very same people, and that’s what I’m doing.”
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Check out the lawmaker’s interview with Karl in the clip below.