WASHINGTON – Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who voted in favor of the conviction of former President Donald Trump in his second indictment, said on Tuesday that Trump is likely to beat the GOP field if he decides to run in the 2024 presidential election.
“I do not know if he will perform in 2024 or not, but if he does, I’m pretty sure he’s going to win the nomination,” Romney said in an interview with the New York Times DealBook DC Policy Project.
On the prediction, Romney said: ‘I think he will win the nomination if he participates. I mean a lot can happen between now and 2024. ”
“I look at the polls, and the polls show that among the names that will be driven as potential contenders in 2024, if he places President Trump there among Republicans, he will achieve a quick victory,” he added.
A recent poll by Politico / Morning Consult found that 54 percent of GOP voters would support Trump in a hypothetical contest in 2024.
Trump has not said whether he intends to run again, but has not yet ruled out a bid. The former president promised in a farewell video speech that the movement he started “only now” begins.
Romney, the party’s presidential candidate in 2012, represents the traditional wing of the increasingly divided Republican Party and has regularly clashed with Trump. Asked if he would run against the former president, Romney did not respond directly, but rather said he “would not vote for President Trump again.”
“I have not voted for him in the past, and I will probably leave behind someone who I think is more of the small wing of the Republican Party I represent,” he said.
Romney was among seven Republican senators who voted with Democrats earlier this month in favor of Trump’s conviction over his role in the events leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He is the only Republican senator who votes to convict Trump in both of his indictments.
However, Trump was eventually acquitted by a 57-43 vote, less than the 67 total votes needed to convict him.
