Sen. Mitt Romney said Trump is ‘the real deal’ in 2012
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Sen. Mitt Romney’s complicated relationship with former President Donald Trump dates back decades, a new book reveals.
During his 2012 campaign, while Romney, a Republican, was running for president, he accepted an endorsement from Trump, according to “Romney: A Reckoning,” written by McKay Coppins.
In his personal journal, Romney admitted that he came to like Trump’s funny, outrageous personality: “This guy is not fake — he says 100% of what he thinks. No veneer, the real deal. Got to love him. Makes me laugh and makes me feel good, both. They just don’t make people like Donald Trump very often.”
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They first met years earlier. In 1995, while Romney worked at Bain Capital, an investment firm, he spent several days at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida. The experience was “deeply weird,” beginning with Romney’s arrival: upon reaching the complex in a limousine, Romney and Trump were greeted by dozens of members of Trump’s service staff, all in white linen uniforms, who greeted their boss “as if posed for a royal reception.”
Years later, Romney and Trump ran into each other at a New England Patriots football game, where both were guests in owner Bob Kraft’s suite. While there, Trump bragged to Romney’s son, Josh, about his then-new girlfriend, Melania. “When I drop her, the phone is gonna ring off the hook. Every guy in New York wants to go out with her,” Trump said.
Before accepting Trump’s endorsement in 2012, Romney reportedly tried to convince Trump that the “birther” conspiracy — that Obama was born outside the U.S. — was not true. Trump was an ardent advocate of the conspiracy, and Romney attempted to explain that his own father, George Romney, was born in Mexico, but legally ran for president because his mother was a U.S. citizen.
Coppins writes: “Trump seemed uninterested in constitutional theory, and Romney finally gave up.”
Their relationship soured in the buildup to the 2016 election, when Trump ran for president. Romney reportedly considered running in 2016, but later reverted to attempting to convince Republican candidates to coalesce, the book reveals. He delivered a scathing speech at the University of Utah, denouncing Trump’s candidacy.
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After several former Trump critics eventually lent their support to Trump, Romney harshly critiqued them — including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who endorsed Trump.
“He is unquestionably mentally unstable, and he is racist, bigoted, misogynistic, xenophobic, vulgar and prone to violence,” Romney wrote to Christie. “... I believe your endorsement severely diminishes you morally — though probably not politically — and that you must withdraw that support to preserve your integrity and character.”
