Topline
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is not running for a second senate term, he announced on X (formerly known as Twitter) Wednesday afternoon, saying he will instead retire following decades as a high-profile Republican figure capped by winning the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
Romney has been one of the highest-profile GOP critics of former President Donald Trump in elected … [+] office.
Key Facts
Romney, 76, told the Washington Post on Wednesday that the need for a new generation to “step up” and his older age were factors that influenced his decision, saying it’s time for the next generation to “shape the world they’re going to live in.”
Romney—a critic of former President Donald Trump, who voted twice to remove the former president from office—said a second term would be less productive than his current term both because of the ongoing conflict among House Republicans and because of his doubts surrounding President Joe Biden’s leadership.
Crucial Quote
“We’re probably going to have either Trump or Biden as our next president,” Romney told the Post explaining his decision not to run for a second senate term. “And Biden is unable to lead on important matters and Trump is unwilling to lead on important matters.”
Tangent
During his two-minute video, Romney criticized both Biden and Trump, saying neither man is leading their party to confront major issues. Romney said neither Biden nor Trump is addressing the country’s mounting debt, criticized both leaders’ lack of strategy to respond to the ongoing threat of climate change, and attacked their responses to the mounting authoritarian regimes of China and Russia.
Key Background
Romney was elected to the Senate in 2018, and said he plans to finish his term, which ends January 2025. His time in the Senate has been marked his choice to openly criticize Trump—something most members of his party have chosen not to do. In 2020, he was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump for withholding aid from Ukraine to allegedly receive a political favor. Romney was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial over his role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Before his time in the Senate, he served as Massachusetts’ governor from 2003 to 2007, and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president for the first time in 2008. Four years later, he won the Republican nomination and lost the White House against President Barack Obama.
Further Reading
Mitt Romney Says He Will Not Seek A Second Term In The Senate (Washington Post)
