(Republicaninformer.com)- Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney is one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest critics, but even he admitted recently that Trump is likely going to be his party’s presidential nominee in a little more than a year.
Speaking with reporters at the U.S. Capitol recently, Romney opined:
“I think President Trump is by far the most likely to become our nominee. If there’s an alternative to that, it would be only realistic if it narrows down to a two-person race at some point.”
Romney seemed to be alluding to the fact that it seems that the GOP primary is sizing up to be a crowded field for the second time in the last three elections. When Trump won the Republican nomination back in 2016, he emerged from a very crowded field of candidates.
Many political pundits have said that if the same situation presents itself again in 2024 – with multiple candidates trying to capture the GOP nomination – then Trump has a better chance of emerging, as the other candidates are likely to split the anti-Trump vote among GOP voters.
Thus far, two Republicans in addition to Trump have officially announced their candidacy for 2024 – former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. There are still plenty of other much more prominent politicians who have been rumored as possible candidates, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and even former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
There’s plenty of other speculation as to who could throw their hat in the ring. That’s what Romney was referring to when he talked to reporters recently. He added:
“There’s always a personal interest on the part of the campaign – particularly the campaign staff, and consultants, as well as the candidate – to stay in. And to say, ‘Hey, look, I came in second. So, I’m the person that really ought to get the nomination four years from now.’
“And so it really is up to the donors and other influence people that know the candidate, his family or her family, to say, ‘Hey, time to move on.’”
It’s been speculated that some candidates could decide to launch a presidential bid knowing quite well that they don’t really have a chance to win the nomination, hoping instead that they might latch on as Trump’s eventual running mate. Many people have surmised that this is exactly what Haley is planning to do.
Romney himself ran for the GOP nomination in 2008 (when he lost) and in 2012 (when he won it but lost the General Election). This time around, he doesn’t appear to have any personal ambitions to run for president, but he also said he wouldn’t be supporting Trump.
That’s not really a surprise, considering he voted to remove Trump from office in both of his impeachment trials in the Senate. A book also recently suggested that Romney worked behind the scenes to see it that Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
