Failed Republican presidential candidate Sen. Mitt Romney recently told CNN that he would “absolutely not” be voting for Donald Trump over Joe Biden in the upcoming election. The retiring Utah senator explained his stance on the former president when CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins asked, “Would you vote for Donald Trump over Joe Biden?”
“No, no, no, absolutely not,” Romney responded. He stated that he evaluates a presidential candidate on a couple of essential factors, such as policy stances, claiming that he doesn’t align with Trump on his foreign policy decisions.
“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.
The senator further elaborated that beyond their rhetoric, he looks for a presidential candidate who embodies excellent character worthy of leading the United States. Romney suggested that former President Donald Trump does not possess this critical trait.
“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.
However, Romney’s disdain toward Trump is nothing new. In July of last year, the senator published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal calling for Republican donors to refrain from funding Trump in favor of other candidates that could possibly secure the nomination instead.
“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 wrote in his op-ed.
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He explained that donors of all sizes should reallocate their funds in a manner different from the 2016 election in which Trump successfully defeated Hillary Clinton. Romney illustrated that the more candidates that remain in the race split the non-Trump vote, making it easier for him to secure the GOP nomination.
“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 said.
Watch the CNN interview featuring Sen. Mitt Romney below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.