Mitt Romney, the twice-failed Republican candidate for president – once during the primary in 2008 and again, facing President Obama, in 2012 – said his family members have pressed him to jump in the race against the voter-selected Donald Trump and Democratic likely challenger Hillary Clinton.
“My wife and kids wanted me to run again this time,” he said, in an interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Hill reported. “I got an email from one of my sons yesterday, saying, ‘You gotta get in, Dad. You gotta get in.'”
That follows a concerted push from the more establishment wing of the Republican Party, the one that includes the “NeverTrump” crowd and several media types, like George Will, the long-time columnist who announced he was leaving the GOP due to Trump, and the editorial board at National Review, which has published several hit pieces against the billionaire businessman telling why he’s wrong for the White House.
In late May, for example, National Review published a piece from David French entitled: “Mitt Romney, Run for President: You’re the only man who can save us from future calamity.”
This late in the game, however, even Romney admits he can’t win.
“I don’t think an independent candidate can win,” he said, adding he has family concerns, in the Aspen Ideas Festival interview. “It’s hard on family. It’s hard on your spouse, sitting there in debates, just agonizing over what you’re going to say next. Or what your kids have to go through. Or what your grandkids go through.”
But even though he’s not running, and hasn’t left the Republican Party, Romney still won’t vote for Trump.
In an interview with the Atlantic, Romney said just this week: “It’s a matter of personal conscience. I can’t vote for either of those two people [Trump or Clinton].”
He also suggested he would write in his wife’s name, claiming she would be “an ideal president,” or vote for a third-party candidate.
