Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the Republican nominee for president in 2012 who has found himself increasingly out of step with the party in the Donald Trump era, announced Wednesday that he will not seek a second term in 2024.
In a video message to the residents of Utah posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Romney was critical of both Trump and President Joe Biden, saying both men had failed to address the nation’s most pressing problems.
“We face critical challenges: mounting national debt, climate change and the ambitious authoritarians of Russia and China,” Romney said in the video. “Neither President Biden nor former President Trump are leading their party to confront those issues. On deficits and debt, both men refuse to address entitlements even though they know that this represent two-thirds of federal spending.”