OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Sen. Mitt Romney made it clear his grudge against former President Donald Trump is still in full force during an interview Wednesday on CNN.
The retiring Utah Republican strongly indicated he would support President Joe Biden over Trump, the man who passed on him to be secretary of state.
Anchor Kaitlan Collins asked, “Would you vote for Donald Trump over Joe Biden?”
Romney said, “No, no, no, absolutely not.”
“For me, there are two factors for deciding who I want to have as the leader of my country, and the person who is the example of the president for my kids, my grandkids. One is their position and policies. And on foreign policy, I’m not aligned with Donald Trump, at least as I understand his policy and domestic policy. Yeah, I’m aligned with many of his domestic policies,” Romney continued.
“But there’s another dimension besides policy, and that’s character. And I think what America is as a nation, what has allowed us to be the most powerful nation on earth and the leader of the earth, is the character of the people who have been our leaders and past presidents. But also mothers, fathers, church leaders, university presidents, and so forth. Having a president who is so defaulted on character would have an enormous impact on the character of America. And for me, that’s the primary consideration,” Romney continued.
WATCH:
CNN: Would you vote for Trump over Biden?
ROMNEY: No, no, no. Absolutely not.Good riddance to this RINO. pic.twitter.com/HsyxYAC6Ka
— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) February 29, 2024
Romney, who became the 2012 Republican nominee for president and the only senator from his party to twice vote in favor of convicting Trump in impeachment trials, announced in September that he will not run for re-election as senator for Utah.
He said in an interview that it is time for a new generation to “step up” and “shape the world they’re going to live in,” the Washington Post noted.
Romney claimed that his belief that a second term, which would take him into his 80s, would probably be less fruitful and satisfying than the current term, had a significant impact on his decision not to run again. He attributed that to both the chaos he perceives among House Republicans and his own lack of faith in President Biden and Trump’s ability to lead.
“It’s very difficult for the House to operate, from what I can tell,” he said in a lengthy telephone interview previewing his formal announcement, “and two, and perhaps more importantly, we’re probably going to have either Trump or Biden as our next president. And Biden is unable to lead on important matters and Trump is unwilling to lead on important matters.”
In July, a report noted that Romney was devising a new plan to prevent Trump from winning the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
The Utah Republican and twice-failed GOP presidential contender wrote in The Wall Street Journal this week that GOP donors should pull funding from a myriad of 2024 Republican presidential hopefuls and concentrate their efforts on backing a single candidate who could then run successfully against Trump.
In the op-ed, which is titled “Donors, Don’t Fund a Trump Plurality,” and subtitled, “As in 2016, Republican candidates won’t drop out soon enough. Here’s how to give them a push,” he outlined his strategy.
“Despite Donald Trump’s apparent inevitability, a baker’s dozen Republicans are hoping to become the party’s 2024 nominee for president. That is possible for any of them if the field narrows to a two-person race before Mr. Trump has the nomination sewn up,” Romney’s column begins.
“For that to happen, Republican megadonors and influencers—large and small—are going to have to do something they didn’t do in 2016: get candidates they support to agree to withdraw if and when their paths to the nomination are effectively closed. That decision day should be no later than, say, Feb. 26, the Monday following the contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina,” he added.
