Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney won’t endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president despite his outspoken criticisms of former President Trump.
“I’ve made it very clear that I don’t want Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States,” Romney said Tuesday at the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah, The New York Times reported.
“I want to continue to have a voice in the Republican Party following this election. I think there’s a good chance that the Republican Party is going to need to be rebuilt or reoriented,” he later added during the political forum.
Romney announced last year that he would not seek re-election as a senator representing the Beehive State, and will leave office in January. The Republican has long criticized Trump, and indicated in June that he was unlikely to support the 45th president’s re-election.
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Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, speaks to the media in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 13, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“With President Trump, it’s a matter of personal character,” Romney told CNN at the time. “I draw a line and say when someone has been actually found to have been sexually assaulted, that’s something I just won’t cross over in the person I wouldn’t want to have as president of the United States.” Romney’s comments referred to a federal jury’s decision in New York City last year, which ruled Trump was not liable for the rape of E. Jean Carroll, though the former president was liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Pittsburgh. (Rebecca Droke/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Romney has also slammed Trump for Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of the then-president breached the U.S. Capitol, arguing Trump incited an insurrection due to his “injured pride” over the 2020 election. Romney subsequently was one of seven Republican members of the Senate who voted to impeach Trump over Jan. 6.
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Romney was also the only Republican who voted to impeach Trump in 2020 over abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges. Trump was acquitted in both impeachment cases, and is the only president in history who was impeached twice and acquitted twice.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and former President Trump. (Getty Images)
Trump has also hit back at Romney, saying in 2020 that the Utah senator “can’t stand the fact that he ran one of the worst campaigns in the history of the presidency,” referring to his 2012 bid for the White House, and calling him a “disgrace” that same year for voting to impeach.
While Romney has previously broken with the GOP on other key issues, he indicated Tuesday that he will not offer his endorsement to Harris despite other Republicans recently throwing their support behind the vice president. Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney officially endorsed Harris last week and joined her on the campaign trail in Wisconsin, while former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger and former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake also endorsed Harris.
Fox News Digital reached out to Romney’s office for additional comment on the matter, but did not immediately receive a reply.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
