Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said on Wednesday that he doesn’t think current GOP front-runner Donald Trump will be the party’s nominee.
Speaking at the Washington Ideas Forum in Washington, D.C., Romney signaled that Trump’s policy proposals are not mainstream enough to win the nomination.
“I will support the Republican nominee,” Romney said. “I don’t think that’s going to be Donald Trump.”
Romney cited comments Trump made on foreign policy in a recent interview as one reason he can’t win.
“He thought it would be a good idea to let [the Islamic State] take over and Syria and we pick up the pieces,” Romney said. “I thought that was both absurd and dangerous.”
Trump had said on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that the U.S. should not interfere with Islamic extremists trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “and then we pick up the remnants” of the battle.
“I don’t think that kind of proposal is likely to lead him to become the nominee,” Romney said.
Before Romney won the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, he was endorsed by Trump. But after he failed to win the general election against President Obama, Trump blamed the defeat on Romney as a poor candidate.
Romney said that other candidates in the race, including Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and “maybe Carly Fiorina” have positions less extreme and could potentially win the nomination.
