\u201cThe President’s behavior towards me made me wonder: What did he have to gain by saying such a thing about a fellow Republican,\u00a0\u00bb Love said in her concession speech.<\/b>
\nDuring her concession speech to her Democratic opponent on Monday, Republican Representative Mia Love of Utah slammed President Donald Trump and his past criticism of her, saying that the president had \u00ab\u00a0no real relationships, just convenient transactions.\u00a0\u00bb
Love\u2019s remarks came during her official concession speech to Democratic opponent and Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams. The pair’s race for Utah\u2019s 4th Congressional District had resulted in a razor-thin margin of less than 700 votes last week after mail-in and provisional ballots continued to be counted weeks after the election. Love officially conceded in a call to McAdams over the weekend.
In an extraordinary press conference the day after Election Day, Trump blasted Love and other Republicans who distanced themselves from him and were defeated. At the time of Trump\u2019s remarks, Love\u2019s race had not yet been decided.
\u201cMia Love gave me no love,\u201d Trump told reporters. \u201cAnd she lost. Too bad. Sorry about that, Mia.\u201d
During her concession speech on Monday, which was planned and was not impromptu, Love publicly responded to the president\u2019s criticism for the first time.
\u201cThe President’s behavior towards me made me wonder: What did he have to gain by saying such a thing about a fellow Republican,\u00a0\u00bb Love said. \u00ab\u00a0It was not really about asking him to do more, was it? Or was it something else?\u201d
Love said that she and the president would have to \u201cchat about that\u201d in the future.
\u00ab\u00a0However, this gave me a clear vision of [Trump\u2019s] world as it is,\u201d Love said. \u201cNo real relationships, just convenient transactions. That is an insufficient way to implement sincere service and policy.\u00a0\u00bb
Love noted that, while her campaign may have distanced itself from the president, she \u00ab\u00a0nagged the president every day\u00a0\u00bb to help in securing the safe release of Joshua Holt, a Utah resident, from a Venezuelan prison. Holt was accused by the Venezuelan government of stockpiling weapons in public housing, according to The Washington Post, during his June 2016 trip to marry a Venezuelan woman, who is now his wife. The two were released in May and safely traveled to the U. S. Utah GOP Senator Orrin Hatch also played a large role in their release.
Love, who in 2014 became the first black female Republican elected to Congress, took aim at both political parties and their relationships with minorities. She believed Republicans fail to embrace minorities and African-Americans while Democratic policies do damage.
\u00ab\u00a0This election experience and these comments,\u00a0\u00bb Love said, \u00ab\u00a0shines a spotlight on the problems Washington politicians have with minorities and black Americans — it’s transactional, it’s not personal.\u00a0\u00bb
She also took shots at McAdams, saying there was a \u201ccost and we will pay it\u201d for electing \u201ca wolf in sheep\u2019s clothing.\u201d
Love blamed the media for writing \u201cuneducated, unfair, irresponsible stories\u201d in which her \u201cethics\u201d and her \u201crecord\u201d were \u201clied about, tarnished, and repeated over and over again on TV right in front of our children.\u201d
U. S. Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) March 3,2016, in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Alex Wong\/Getty Images<\/p>\n