Romney says Haley ‘only one that has a shot’ to beat Trump

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said in a Sunday interview that 2024 GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley is the “only one that has a shot” at beating former President Trump for the Republican nomination, but he declined to endorse any candidate specifically.

“Well, because if I endorsed them, that would be the kiss of death. I’m not going to do that,” Romney said, laughing, on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” when asked why he has not endorsed anyone in the GOP race yet. “Shall I endorse the person I like least right now?”

Romney praised former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s performance, but he suggested it’s pretty clear Christie does not have a strong chance at the nomination, as opposed to Haley, who might.

“I’m not gonna be endorsing President Trump, obviously. I’ve made that very clear. Look, Chris Christie has done a terrific job so far. I think his being in the race has kept Donald Trump from coming to the debates, because I think Donald Trump recognized if he went to the debate with Chris Christie, Chris Christie would reveal him for what he was. And Trump would be badly hurt. So he stayed out,” Romney said about Christie.

“Nikki Haley, she’s rising. Right now, I think she’s the only one that has a shot at becoming the nominee other than President Trump. It’s a long shot on her part, but she’s the one that has a shot. So we’ll see,” he said.

Romney sharply criticized President Biden’s policies and frequently dodged questions on how he would vote in a head-to-head match-up between Biden and Trump, but he noted that he’s “not going to describe who I’ll rule out other than President Trump.”

“Well, the Joe I would like to vote for is Joe Manchin,” Romney said, referring to the conservative Democratic senator from West Virginia. On whether he thinks Manchin would run, he said, “No I don’t, but I wish he would. I wish he’d be the Democratic nominee.”

On the theoretical Trump-Biden rematch, Romney said, “You have a setting where you have someone who’s too old, and someone else who’s a little too nutty. And where are you going to vote on that basis? And by the way, in my view, bad policy we can overcome as a country. We have in the past. Bad character is something which is very difficult to overcome.”

Romney has said that in 2020, he wrote his wife’s name, Ann, in on the presidential ballot. He did not say whether he would do the same in 2024.