WASHINGTON – Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who voted to condemn former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, said on Tuesday that Trump would likely beat the GOP field if he decides to run in the 2024 presidential election.
“I don’t know if he’ll run in 2024 or not, but if he does, I’m pretty sure he’ll win the nomination,” Romney said in an interview with the New York Times DealBook DC Policy Project.
Romney continued the prediction, saying, “I think he would win the nomination if he runs. I mean, a lot can happen between now and 2024. “
“I’m looking at the polls, and the polls show that among the names listed as potential contenders in 2024, if you put President Trump there among Republicans, he wins in a landslide,” he added.
A recent Politico / Morning Consult poll found that 54 percent of GOP voters would back trump in a hypothetical matchup in 2024.
Trump has not said whether he plans to flee again, but has not ruled out another offer. The former president vowed in a farewell video speech that the movement he started is “just beginning.”
Romney, the party’s 2012 presidential candidate, represents the traditional wing of the increasingly divided Republican Party and has regularly clashed with Trump. When asked if he would campaign against the former president, Romney did not answer directly, but said he would “stop voting for President Trump.”
“I haven’t voted for him in the past, and I would probably be behind someone who I thought represented more of the small wing of the Republican party I represent,” he said.
Romney was one of seven Republican senators who voted with Democrats earlier this month to condemn Trump for his role in the events leading up to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. He is the only Republican senator to vote to condemn Trump in both of his impeachment trials.
However, Trump was eventually acquitted by 57-43 votes, fewer than the 67 votes it took to convict him.
