Mitt stirs the pot! Retired Utah Senator urges Cory Booker and Mark Warner to challenge Joe Biden, 80, in 2024 — and never-say-Trumpers to team up with a single GOP challenger
- The 2012 presidential candidate hosted the E2 Summit with his running mate Paul Ryan
- Romney is working to throw his weight behind a candidate to challenge Trump
- The Republican, who is now retiring, even encouraged Democrats to fight against Biden
Republican Senator Mitt Romney is causing a ruckus on his way out of Congress, encouraging never-Trumpers to back a single candidate and even naming two Democrats to challenge Joe Biden for the White House.
At the E2 Summit, hosted by Romney and his former running mate Paul Ryan, the senator pleaded with GOP donors to support a single candidate to run against Trump.
During a closed-door discussion at the two-day forum in Park City, Utah, Romney said he would be happy if either of them won the nomination, according to The Washington Post.
“I think our party has multiple personality disorder, and I think the Democratic Party does too,” the 2012 Republican presidential nominee said Tuesday.
‘I think we are schizophrenic. We don’t know what we are or what we stand for within our party.’
Outgoing Republican Senator Mitt Romney is putting his focus on finding a candidate to take on Trump in the 2024 election season, and is even encouraging Democrats to challenge Biden.
Romney and his former running mate Paul Ryan (pictured) hosted the E2 Summit to find a Republican candidate to rally with
Ryan (left) and Romney (right) in the photo from the campaign hearing in 2012. The two are trying to take their party back from Donald Trump
Deseret News reported that Romney, now free from the pressures of running a Senate campaign, said he had encouraged Democratic senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Mark Warner of Virginia to run against Biden.
The two led the meeting of the minds with presidential hopeful former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
Other speakers include Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and former Attorney General Bill Barr.
The candidates Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy were notably absent.
At the second GOP presidential debate, chaos ensued as Republican candidates, minus Trump, talked over each other and ignored the rules. They were pitted against each other rather than appearing as a united front against Trump.
The wide-ranging discussion at the summit touched on the US role in the Hamas-Israel war, as well as the threats posed by China, Russia and Iran. Both hosts were concerned about their party’s ability to tackle these issues.
Ryan has expressed that he feels his party is driven by “populism that is not bound by principle” and is linked to “the cult of Donald Trump’s personality.”
“A guy, he’s 77 years old – and he’s got like 91 counts, and he’s got a shelf life. Hopefully it’s February, but maybe it’s a little bit longer,’ the former speaker of the House said of Trump.
Senator Cory Booker (left) joined Joe Biden at a 2020 campaign stop. Now Romney has encouraged Booker to challenge Biden for the White House
Democratic Senator Mark Warner (center) speaks to staff at the Senate Office Building in September. Warner is another candidate Romney suggested to run against Biden
Romney has predicted that several candidates will remain in the race for the early primaries, but wants a single nominee sooner rather than later.
“I’d like it to coalesce sooner; I just think it needs to happen,” he said. “I want to put responsibility on your shoulders as the people who fund campaigns to have a say in when it’s time for the person which you support saying, “Okay, I’m coming after someone else.”
The Utah senator also addressed his decision to retire. He said there are far fewer opportunities to achieve bipartisanship.
He does not feel they will be able to solve some of his main issues, such as tackling China, reducing the nation’s debt, threats posed by artificial intelligence, climate change and immigration.
“I’m going to work like crazy for whoever the next president is,” he said, “to see if I can’t get that president to finally address these issues because the clock is running out.”