Alex Beam Debates Role Of 'White Horse Prophecy' In Romney Vote

Trump Impeachment — In this image from video, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, speaks on the Senate floor about the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. The Senate will vote on the Articles of Impeachment on Wednesday afternoon.

Aidan Connelly is a production assistant on Boston Public Radio. A graduate of Emerson College with a B.A in journalism, his work has appeared on WBUR, KCRW, and The Marketplace Morning Report.

February 06, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

On Thursday, "Boston Globe" columnist Alex Beam joined Boston Public Radio to discuss Mitt Romney’s vote to convict President Trump in the Senate impeachment trial and the role that the Utah senator’s Mormon faith may have played in his decision to break from the GOP.

"I’ve been remarkably consistent on being in the tank for Romney,” Beam said, "and I’ve been remarkably consistent on being in the tank for Mormons, generally — even though I wrote a ["American Crucifixion" — about the history of the Mormon Church and its founder Joseph Smith] they refuse to sell in their bookstores.”

Beam went on to debate whether the supposed White Horse Prophecy played a role in the Senator’s vote. The “prophecy,” which is contested by most historians, posits that Mormonism founder Joseph Smith foretold of a day when the U.S. Constitution would be “hanging by a thread,” and saved by a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints.

"I just need to say that a lot of serious historians think that there never was a White Horse Prophecy,” Beam explained. Still, he conceded that the mythology, while not historically accurate, could well have influenced Romney’s vote.

Aidan Connelly is a production assistant on Boston Public Radio. A graduate of Emerson College with a B.A in journalism, his work has appeared on WBUR, KCRW, and The Marketplace Morning Report.