According to Romney, Any Democrat Running Against Trump in 2024 Would Be an Improvement

Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney has said that he plans to vote for Democratic presidential candidates in 2024 because he considers them an "upgrade" over former President Donald Trump. On Friday in an interview with CBS’ Norah O’Donnell, he confessed, "I’d be happy to support virtually any one of the Republicans — maybe not Vivek [Ramaswamy] — but the others that are running would be acceptable to me, and I’d be happy to vote for them. I’d be happy to vote for a number of the Democrats too. It would be an upgrade, in my opinion, from Donald Trump and perhaps also from Joe Biden."

A second term for Trump as president, according to the Utah senator and former Republican presidential contender, would be "devastating" for the nation. However, he recognized that he represented a "tiny, tiny slice" of the Republican Party. He added, "I don’t begin to be able to understand how it is so many people can accept the dishonesties that have been spoken by Donald Trump. I don’t know how it is people go along with that, but they do. And in some respects it’s like ‘well there’s our team and their team. We’re going to cheer whatever our team says and say that we believe it.’" Regarding Biden, he said, "There are some places I agree with him, but most places I disagree with him. I think he’s made all sorts of terrible mistakes, but I would like to see someone else run."

It seems that the Senator's statements this week mark the first time he has publicly expressed support for a possible party switch in the event that Trump wins the Republican nomination for president in 2024. A new generation of leaders is needed, Romney said of his decision to retire in September, so he stepped down. Trump later slammed Romney on TruthSocial, stating that Romney "did not serve with distinction". As reported by The Hill, he added, "A big primary fight against him was in the offing, but now that will not be necessary. Congrats to all. Make America great again!"

Critics of the president praised Romney for his vote to remove Trump from office, while his fellow Republicans criticized him for breaking party unity. The enmity between the two individuals dates back to before Trump was president and Romney was a senator. Even though he wavered after Trump's election and seemed to be lobbying for a cabinet position, Romney emerged as a rare Republican critic in 2016 by opposing Trump's candidacy. After Trump's impeachment proceedings for seeking political dirt in Ukraine and for encouraging the January 6 assault on Congress, Romney was the only Republican senator to vote to convict Trump. Romney was not supported by his party, and Trump was found not guilty on both counts. Romney is the son of George Romney, the Republican governor of Michigan who sought for the presidential nomination from the party's establishment in 1968.