Former President Donald Trump is well on his way to securing the GOP nomination, and is racking up a number of key endorsements in the Senate. But one vote he can’t count on is from Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who was adamant he will not cast his ballot for the 45th president should the 2024 election be a Trump-Biden rematch, which is all but certain.
“No, no, no, absolutely not,” he responded to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who wondered if he’d pull the trigger for Trump.
Romney explained that while he is in agreement with Trump on some domestic issues, the two drastically differ when it comes to foreign policy.
"I mean, for me, there are two factors 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," he said. "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 align with many of his domestic policies," Romney added.
But to the Utah senator, he also weighs one's character in addition to policy.
“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 – past presidents, but also mothers, fathers, church leaders, university presidents, and so forth," he said.
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"Having a president who is so defaulted of character would have an enormous impact on the character of America. And for me, that’s the primary consideration," Romney added.
Romney's comments are not surprising given that in 2020, he became the first senator to vote to convict a president from his own party during an impeachment trial, and again voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial.
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