The problem with speaking for the record in this social media age is that your words are out there forever, and I realized some time ago that I was too tough on Mitt Romney when he ran for president in 2012. I regret that now.

We all had our fun with the story about Romney placing the family dog in a carrier on the roof of their station wagon as they traveled on vacation in 1983. When the dog got sick, Romney stopped at a gas station and hosed down the dog and the car. It made him look like he was insensitive even to man’s best friend.

And when he said, “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me” while campaigning for the Republican nomination, it brought back childhood memories of mill bosses who casually fired working men without a thought about their families.

In the past, Romney sometimes stumbled when searching for the right words and sometimes misread the room. You can disagree with him as a U.S. senator for Utah, but he is solid and steady. And since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, he has not flinched when it comes to Donald Trump.

When Congress reconvened hours after the mob was repelled, Romney said, “We gather today due to a selfish man’s injured pride and the outrage of his supporters whom he has deliberately misinformed for the past two months and stirred to action this very morning.”

As for those who would continue to spread the Big Lie that the election was stolen from Trump, Romney said they “will be remembered for their role in this shameful episode in American history. That will be their legacy.” He voted to impeach Trump for the Jan. 6 insurrection and has held the line.

Compare that to these profiles in cowardliness.

This past week, Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr, said that he will support the Republican ticket even if Trump is at the top. In the past, Barr said Trump “cared only about one thing: himself. Country and principle took second place.” He compared voting for Trump to “playing Russian roulette with the country.”

Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Trump “morally responsible” for the Jan. 6 attacks and said on the Senate floor, “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.” Last month, McConnell endorsed Trump for president.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham blamed Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 mob. When the Senate reconvened that night, he told his colleagues, “All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.” Weeks later, he called Trump’s actions “a self-inflicted wound. It was going too far.”

But Graham now supports the man he once called a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.” He says, “I know what I’m going to get.” He once accused Trump of creating chaos out of the orderly transition of power but now claims Trump will “bring order out of chaos.”

Kevin McCarthy, who was the Republican leader of the House on Jan. 6 and later speaker, has also endorsed Trump for president. On Jan. 6, McCarthy said Trump was responsible for the attack, but he quickly traveled to Mar-a-Lago to make amends. McCarthy is now willing to serve in his Cabinet.

All of these flip-floppers are stewards of the Republic. What Barr said about Trump is also true about them: Country and principle are now in second place.

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