Utah lawmaker shelves bill to name highway after Trump

The Republican state lawmaker in Utah pushing to rename a highway after President Trump said Wednesday that he would not try to force a vote on the bill.

State Rep. Mike Noel told Salt Lake City’s Fox 13 that he would not let his legislation go forward because it was “still controversial,” even after he tried to woo some opponents by modifying the bill so that it would only rename the highway in three spots. 

“This is one thing to name these three little stretches of road, no national parks designations, after a president that I think will go down in history,” Noel said.

{mosads}The original version of the bill would have named the entire stretch of road the “Donald J. Trump National Parks Highway” to recognize the president’s decision to shrink two national monuments in the state.

The measure, which a Senate committee passed earlier this week, faced pushback from Democratic lawmakers and constituents. One Democratic state senator said that he would amend the bill to also name a “Stormy Daniels Rampway,” a reference to the adult-film actress who has made headlines in recent months for claiming she had an affair with Trump in 2006.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) said Tuesday that the measure would be “premature” and indicated that he may veto it if it ended up on his desk.

Noel shared voicemails from angry constituents with Fox 13, including one from a woman who said, “Are you f—ing kidding me? Go f— yourself.” He declined to say whether he would revisit the bill next session.