Romney: Obama hasn’t sought my input in years

President Obama has not reached out to Mitt Romney since their post-election Oval Office lunch, the former Republican presidential candidate revealed in an interview with The New York Times Magazine.

“It was intended to check a box,” Romney said of the hourlong white-turkey chili and grilled chicken salad lunch in November 2012.

{mosads}At the time, the White House said the focus of their discussion was “America’s leadership in the world and the importance of maintaining that leadership position in the future.” 

“They pledged to stay in touch, particularly if opportunities to work together on shared interests arise in the future,” the White House said.

Apparently, Romney said, no such opportunities have arisen.

The former Massachusetts governor said he believed his experience was typical — corporate executives with whom he’s friendly also describe very little follow-up after presidential meetings.

“No one gets the impression that what they are saying is being incorporated,” Romney said in the interview that went online Tuesday. “I won’t mention who it was, but I met with one of the nation’s top Republican leaders, and he said, ‘You know the strange thing is that the president seems to answer to only two people — Valerie Jarrett and Michelle Obama.’ ”

Romney lobbed additional criticism at his former presidential rival, saying Obama should not complain about Republican obstructionism in Congress.

“That’s the nature of democracy,” Romney said, pointing out he had been able to work with Democrats when he led Massachusetts.

Romney also knocked Secretary of State John Kerry, suggesting he was less willing to cross the aisle than his former in-state Senate colleague, Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.).

“Ted Kennedy would do the work,” Romney said. “John Kerry was always in front of the camera but not out doing the hard work.”

Romney also knocked former secretary of State and likely 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as an “enabler” of the president’s foreign policy.