The Republican Party has drifted away from the importance it had always placed on the character of its leaders, Sen. Mitt Romney told CNN’s “State of the Union" on Sunday.
“We’ve strayed from that. I don't see us returning to that for a long time,” Romney said. “As I look at the 2024 [GOP presidential] contenders, most of them are trying to become as much like Donald Trump as they can be.”
The Utah Republican also said his party has taken a “different course” from its support of free trade, attempts to keep government spending in check, and hawkishness on Russia.
“The party that I knew is one that was very concerned about Russia and [Vladimir] Putin and Kim Jong Un and North Korea, and we pushed back aggressively against them,” Romney said. “We were a party concerned about balancing the budget. We were happy to play a leadership role on the world stage, because we felt that made us safer and more prosperous. And we believed that character was essential in the leaders that we chose.”
Asked by host Jake Tapper if he has thought about leaving the party, as retiring Michigan GOP Rep. Paul Mitchell did recently, Romney said “I think I'm more effective in the Republican Party, continuing to battle for the things I believe in."
The 2012 GOP presidential nominee continued that “ultimately, the Republican Party will return to the roots that have been formed over, well, the centuries. So, we’ll get back at some point and, hopefully, people will recognize we need to take a different course than the one we are on right now.”
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Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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