Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, on Sunday said he won’t be supporting former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, and he wouldn’t rule out voting for President Joe Biden.
Romney, a frequent critic of Trump, heavily rebuked the former president in an exclusive interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” He said Trump is “dangerous for the country” because he carries “authoritarian interests and rulings,” and called him “a human gumball machine” that spouts out unfiltered thoughts to the public.
Asked by host Kristen Welker if he’d vote for Biden, given what he said about Trump, Romney said: “I’m not going to describe who I’ll rule out other than President Trump.”
His remarks came after Trump said at a Fox News town hall Tuesday that he would not be a dictator if he is elected into the White House next year, “except for Day One.”
Romney also dismissed the impeachment inquiry into Biden that’s being led by his Republican colleagues in the House.
“Have you seen any evidence that President Biden has committed high crimes and misdemeanors?” asked Welker.
Romney said: “No, I don’t see any evidence of that at all. I think before you begin an impeachment inquiry, you ought to have some evidence, some inclination that there’s been wrongdoing, and so far there’s nothing of that nature that’s been provided.”
“So you oppose the impeachment inquiry?” Welker pressed, to which Romney replied: “Well, if I were in the House, I’d vote against it, unless they were able to bring forward evidence that suggested there there were a high crime or misdemeanor that had been committed, but so far, that hasn’t been the case.”
Romney was critical of both Biden and Trump’s re-election campaigns on “Meet the Press,” describing the president as “someone who’s too old” and the former president as “someone else who’s a little too nutty.” And he said he’d prefer to “vote for Joe Manchin,” the moderate Senate Democrat who has floated the possibility of a presidential run.
The Utah Republican — who announced in September that he will not be running for re-election in the Senate as he stressed the need for a new generation of politicians — said he believes former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is the only candidate in the GOP field who “has a shot” to become the nominee other than Trump.
Asked why he hasn’t endorsed a candidate yet, Romney said an endorsement “would be the kiss of death.”
“Maybe I should — should I endorse the person I like least right now?” he said, while laughing. “I’m not going to be endorsing President Trump, obviously. I’ve made that very clear.”
Christina Zhao contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
