President Trump’s endorsement of Mitt Romney has enabled the Utah Republican to mount a compelling defense of his anti-Trump track record.
At a Monday event sponsored by the Utah County Republican Women, Romney fielded questions from the audience about his relationship with Trump, according to the Daily Herald. “[Trump] has endorsed me in this race. He respects people who speak their mind, because now and then, as you know, if he says something I think is wrong, I’ll point it out,” Romney said. “And if he disagrees with me, he points it out even harder.”
Romney didn’t run from his belief Trump often flirts with unacceptable rhetoric either, pledging to remain vocal in those circumstances. “There are times when the president may have said something that is either racist, or anti-woman, that is divisive,” he asserted. “And if that happens, I’ll call him out on it.”
The former Massachusetts governor also contended he’s more conservative than “a lot of Republicans” on deficits and more of a “hawk” on immigration than Trump.
The microscope on Romney’s race isn’t just because he’s a high-profile candidate. As he balances his hot-and-cold relationship with Trump in a Republican primary, Romney will provide some clues as to how he’ll deal with the president in an upper chamber likely to be controlled by a slim majority in either direction.
Romney’s pitch — that his willingness to oppose Trump is an advantage — is made effective only by the president’s endorsement, allowing the candidate to argue it was his resistance that ultimately secured Trump’s respect.
Fleshing out the president’s endorsement that way makes the job of persuading any pro-Trump holdouts easier for Romney, though that was probably never an insurmountable obstacle on his path to the Senate anyway.
