Mitt Romney says President Barack Obama has turned out to be "a good deal worse" than he expected when he challenged him in 2012. The Republican also said he will not mount a third run for president.
"I was not a big fan of the president's policies, as you know, either domestically or internationally," the former Massachusetts governor said Tuesday, while stumping in Beckley, West Virginia, for three Republican candidates,
The Washington Times reported.
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"The results of his mistakes and errors, in my opinion, have been more severe than even I would have predicted," Romney said of troubles such as the U.S. economy and problems overseas in Iraq, Russia, and Syria.
Romney appeared with Republican West Virginia Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, who is ahead in polls in the race for U.S. Senate against Democrat Natalie Tennant.
Tennant has been working to distance herself from Obama, particularly when it comes to the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed greenhouse gas emission regulations for coal-fired power plants and the rules' potential for harming the
state's coal industry.
However, the Times reported, Democrats are criticizing Capito for her association with Romney, who as governor of Massachusetts said a coal-fired power plant there needed to be cleaned up because it "killed people."
Romney said Tuesday that the comment should not reflect on Capito in the state whose economy is fueled by coal.
"Fortunately, she has her own positions, and she doesn’t have to accept all of mine," he said. "But the other thing is, I did run for president twice, and I think I made it very clear in my presidential campaigns that I’m a friend of coal."
Romney was also in the state to campaign for Republican Evan Jenkins, who is running against Democrat Rep. Nick Rahall II, and for GOP candidate Alex Mooney, who is campaigning against Democrat Nick Casey for an open seat in the House.
But while the crowd was supportive of the three Republican candidates, their cheers were loudest for Romney, and once again, union protesters were outside the event to attack Romney as a "fat cat" and the "king of exporting jobs," the same kinds of claims they made while he was running against Obama.
Romney insisted Tuesday he would not run for president again, telling reporters that he expects "to be getting behind some good people or a good person who will be" the Republican nominee.
Romney is campaigning nationwide for more than three dozen candidates as the Republican Party fights to keep control of the House and attempts to regain the Senate.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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