Even Mitt Romney Wants Jan Brewer to Veto Antigay Bill

In the latest in a series of terse tweets from prominent Republicans, Jan Brewer is being lobbied by her party's former presidential nominee.

Lucas Grindley

Lucas Grindley is VP and Editorial Director for Here Media, which is parent company to The Advocate. His Twitter account is filled with politics, Philip Glass appreciation, and adorable photos of his twin toddler daughters.

Read Full Bio

Lucas Grindley

February 25 2014 6:40 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

lucasgrindley

Sorry to interrupt...
But we wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading. Your support makes original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Help us hold Trump accountable.

One-time Monthly

$19.67 $50 Other

$5 $19.67 $50

Pressure from within Jan Brewer's own party is mounting, with the Republicans' former standard-bearer calling on the Arizona governor to veto the so-called "license to discriminate" bill.

Of course, Mitt Romney didn't use that phrase in his tweet today. Like conservative Arizona senators John McCain and Jeff Flake before him, Romney used the bill number and succinctly called for a veto.

Here are their tweets:

\u201c.@GovBrewer: veto of #SB1062 is right.\u201d
— Mitt Romney (@Mitt Romney) 1393364516

\u201cI hope Governor Brewer will veto #SB1062\u201d
— John McCain (@John McCain) 1393257404

\u201cI hope Governor Brewer vetoes SB 1062\u201d
— Jeff Flake (@Jeff Flake) 1393108674

McCain elaborated later during an interview with CNN's New Day, saying the law would "hurt the Arizona economy and our image." Indeed, a number of Arizona businesses have called for a veto, including Apple, which recently touted the addition of a new manufacturing plant in the state.

Former George W. Bush political strategist Matthew Dowd, who is now a columnist, made headlines this weekend when he used much stronger language to condemn the pending legislation. As a guest on This Week on ABC, Dowd said, "This is one of those problems when people use religion as a way to sort of enforce discriminatory practices." He went on to compare the law to all manner of extremism. "People used religion back in the 1860s when they defended slavery," Dowd said. "They used religion to defend slavery. We've used religion to go to war. People have criticized Islam because they use religion to fight people and kill people. This is the problem with that. In the end I think she vetoes it because there's no way this can survive."

Watch video of that moment via RawStory below: