Mitt Romney will not endorse a candidate in the Republican presidential primary, saying that his support would likely hurt a candidate more than help.
Mr Romney, who was the 2012 Republican nominee for president, has emerged as the foremost critic of former president Donald Trump within the Republican Party. Mr Romney voted to convict the former president in both of Mr Trump’s impeachment trials.
But the senator told The Independent that he will refrain from endorsing a candidate because he does not want them to be tied to his criticism of the former president.
“I can't imagine endorsing anybody,” he said. “And my endorsement would be the kiss of death.”
Mr Romney will retire from the Senate at the end of the current Congress rather than seek a second term.
“I've said from the beginning, he was odds-on favorite to become the nominee, he’s very likely to be the nominee,” Mr Romney said of Mr Trump. “He's very, very likely to be the nominee. Hard to imagine someone passing him, I think.”
An NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll this week showed that 51 per cent of likely Iowa caucusgoers back Mr Trump. Mr Trump also holds a wide lead in most of the other states, including New Hampshire, despite the fact the state’s Republican Governor Chris Sununu backed former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley.
“I think Nikki Haley has a shot, but it's a long shot,” he said. In 2012, Ms Haley endorsed Mr Romney. “But other than that, I think it's pretty clear sailing.”
Iowa will hold the first-in-the-nation contest on 15 January 2024.
Mr Romney told Meet the Press this week that while he would rather support Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV), who is considering running for president, in 2024, he would not rule out supporting President Joe Biden because of the threat Mr Trump posed.
“I think we agree that we have looked at his behaviour, and his behaviour suggests that this is a person who will impose his will if he can, on the judicial system, on the legislative branch and on the entire nation,” he told moderator Kristin Welker.
