Republican Utah Senate hopeful Mitt Romney said in a new interview that he does not see President Trump as a good “role model” for his grandchildren.
Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts and the GOP’s presidential nominee in 2012, made the comment during an interview with NBC News on Monday, ahead of a Senate primary debate.
{mosads}“I don’t think that I would point to the president as a role model for my grandkids on the basis of his personal style,” Romney said. “He has departed in some cases from the truth and has attacked in a way that I think is not entirely appropriate.”
He added that while he thinks Trump’s policies have exceeded his expectations, “some of the things he has said are not ones that I would aspire for my grandkids to adopt.”
Romney, who failed to earn the Senate GOP nomination outright last month, will be on the ballot in Utah’s June 26 primary to replace retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch (R).
Romney was a harsh critic of Trump during the 2016 presidential race, but he has since tempered his criticism.
“I look forward. I’m not going to look backward,” Romney said last month about his past criticisms of the president.
Romney told NBC News that he would continue to call Trump out on “racist or misogynistic” comments and that he would “call ‘em like I see ‘em.”
“Where the president is right in my view, on policy, for Utah and for the country, I’ll be with him,” Romney said. “But if the president were to say something that I consider highly divisive or racist or misogynistic, I’ll call him out on it. Because I think it’s important for people to know exactly where one stands.”
Trump has endorsed Romney in the Senate race, though Romney said in 2016 that he would not have accepted Trump’s endorsement for president in 2012 if Trump had said “the things he says today” about minority groups.