Scott J. Applewhite/AP
Members of Congress have made their marks with unique and even scandal-spurring period drama-inspired office decorations over the years — but GOP Sen. Mitt Romney's decor takes a cue from the classroom.
Romney revealed to a group of donors at a closed-door fundraiser on Monday that he displays a chart in his office showing the history of world civilizations over the past 4,000 years as a reminder of the fragility of democracy, CBS News' Robert Costa reported.
Romney explained to the crowd that the graphic demonstrates how autocracy and despotism, not democracy, have been "the default" settings for governments throughout that entire span of world history.
"We are really the only significant experiment in democracy, and preserving liberal democracy is an extraordinary challenge," Romney told the group, gathered at a fundraiser for Rep. Liz Cheney at the Hilton hotel in McLean, Virginia, per CBS.
Romney and Cheney are two of the few congressional Republicans who have vocally opposed President Donald Trump.
Cheney was the most senior House Republican to vote to impeach Trump for inciting the January 6 insurrection. She lost her position in House Republican leadership as a result, and is now the top Republican on the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riots.
Romney, who was elected to the US Senate from Utah in 2018, was the only Republican senator to vote to convict Trump in both of his impeachment trials in January 2020 and February 2021.
Both have also spoken out in stark teams condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and pushing for more military support for Ukraine.
Romney told the group that "what has kept us from falling in with the same kind of authoritarian leader as Vladimir Putin are the strengths of our institutions, the rule of law, our courts, Congress, and so forth."
Cheney, who represents Wyoming's at-large House district, will on August 16 face the biggest political test of her career yet in a race against a Trump-endorsed primary challenger, Harriet Hageman.
"People of character and courage," Romney told the crowd, "have stood up for right at times when others want to look away. Such a person is Liz Cheney."
Cheney's parents, former Vice President Dick Cheney and Lynne Cheney, were also in attendance at the Monday night fundraiser, which brought in over half a million dollars for Cheney's reelection campaign, CBS reported.
"I think people are really hungry for a sensible, rational alternative in our political dialogue," Bill Kilberg, one of the organizers of the fundraiser, told CBS. "They're not happy with the direction of the Republican Party and they're not particularly happy with the direction of the Democratic Party."
