Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who was the 2012 Republican presidential nominee and a vocal opponent of former President Donald Trump, announced on Wednesday that he would not seek reelection in 2018.
“I have worked in some capacity for the public good for the past 25 years. I’d be in my mid-eighties at the end of a subsequent term. In all honesty, we need a new group of leaders. They must make the choices that will determine how the world in which they live will be,” Romney stated.
“I’m not running for re-election, but I’m not giving up the fight,” he continued. I will serve as your senator until January 2025.
Romney, 76, was governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. He has been in the Senate since 2019. He lost against President Barack Obama, who was re-elected, as the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2012.
The senator from Utah, whose six-year tenure ends in January 2025, expressed “a good deal” of enjoyment for his job in the Senate and said that recent years had been “particularly productive.” The bipartisan infrastructure law, the bipartisan gun safety measure, the Electoral Count Act, and the emergency money for COVID relief were among the successes he cited.
Romney criticized both Trump and President Joe Biden, saying that “a new generation of leaders must lead America to the next level of global leadership.”
“We face significant obstacles, like the growing national debt, climate change, and the aspirational autocrats of China and Russia. In his comments, Romney noted that neither President Biden nor Former President Trump were leading their party to challenge them.
One of the most well-known Republicans to criticize Trump has been Romney. When Trump originally announced his candidacy for president in 2016, he expressed concern about him. Throughout his four years in power, he received harsh criticism.
“Donald Trump is a scam and a phony. In a significant speech during the 2016 GOP presidential primary campaign, Romney said that Trump’s pledges were worthless, comparable to a diploma from Trump University. He is a con artist, taking advantage of the American people. We only receive a subpar hat, while he receives a free ride to the White House.
In his initial Senate campaign in 2018, Romney claimed that Trump isn’t “a good example for my grandkids.”
Notably, he joined Democrats and voted to convict Trump at the first Senate impeachment trial in 2020, becoming the lone Republican senator to do so. In the wake of the Capitol Hill incident on January 6, 2021, he was one of 10 Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader in the Senate, commended Romney in a statement on Wednesday, saying that the Senate is known for drawing capable and seasoned public servants. But it’s uncommon for us to warmly welcome new senators who are as successful and well-liked as Mitt Romney. I regret learning that our buddy from Utah will leave the Senate at the end of next year since we have been lucky to have him as a colleague for the previous four and a half years.
Romney’s decision to leave Congress was met with disapproval and mild astonishment from his former advisers and associates. One senior Romney aide told NBC News, “He’ll get bored.” However, staying in the Senate for another six years is not very beneficial.
Additionally, Romney was subject to pressure from his own party. Brad Wilson, the speaker of the Utah House, stated earlier this year that he was considering challenging Romney in the Republican primary. Wilson had raised $2.2 million as of the end of June, including a $1.2 million loan from himself.
Trump sent a message on Truth Social on Wednesday, congratulating the news, in response to the announcement.
Fantastic news for the United States, the wonderful state of Utah, and the Republican Party. “Mitt Romney, sometimes known as Pierre Delecto, will not be running for re-election to the U.S. Senate, where he did not perform admirably,” Trump wrote, alluding to Romney’s use of the alias “Pierre Delecto” to run an anonymous Twitter account.
“A big primary fight opposing him was in the works, but now that won’t be necessary,” Trump continued. I wish you all the best. Make America Great Once More.