Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah says former President Donald Trump is going to be hard to beat in the GOP presidential primary but would once again lose the general election.
Mr. Romney said some in the GOP have lost their way, while others have shared forward-looking visions for the future, including a dozen or so Republicans flirting with running against Mr. Trump for the party’s presidential nod.
“If President Trump continues in his campaign, I am not sure they can, any one of them, can make it through and beat him,” Mr. Romney, an outspoken Trump critic, said at a Washington Post virtual event. “He has such a strong base of, I don’t know, 30% or 40% of the Republican voters or maybe more, it is going to be hard to knock him off as our nominee.”
“If he became our nominee, I think he loses again,” he said.
Mr. Romney said he would “absolutely not” vote for Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump announced he was running again for the White House last month, seeking to make a political comeback after losing to President Biden in the 2020 election and refusing to accept the results.
Mr. Trump is the frontrunner in the Republican race, but the disappointing showing of Trump-backed candidates in the midterm elections has provided more ammunition for his GOP critics who want the party to move past the former president and his stolen election claims.
Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012 and later showered him with criticism after he lost to President Barack Obama.
Mr. Romney is one of the seven Republicans that voted to convict Mr. Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
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