Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) predicted that former President Donald Trump is poised to tear through his GOP primary foes as he did in 2016.
A staunch critic of Trump's temperament, Romney said that he would not back the former president if he becomes the party standard-bearer in 2024 and contended that Republicans need a narrow field if Trump is to be taken down in the primary.
“I think President Trump is by far the most likely to become our nominee,” Romney said Wednesday, according to NBC. “If there’s an alternative to that, it would be only realistic if it narrows down to a two-person race at some point.”
Polling has lent some credence to that prognostication. In a recent Quinnipiac University poll, Trump edged out his top rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 42% to 36% in a crowded field of 14 candidates. But when that field narrows to four, the disparity tightens, with Trump leading 43% to 41%.
Romney has long urged Republicans to block Trump from becoming the nominee, but he has also downplayed his ability to stop that.
“I’m just a lowly senator from Utah,” Romney added, according to NBC. “I can’t stop anybody.”
In 2012, Romney was the Republican nominee. Both he and past Republican nominees such as the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and former President George W. Bush opposed Trump but failed to stop him.
At the time, Romney and others railed against Trump's temperament as well as his slash-and-dash brand of politics. Should Trump reclaim the party mantle, Romney does not anticipate voting for President Joe Biden, deeming that prospect "very unlikely."
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Romney's forecast comes on the heels of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley becoming Trump's first major primary challenger Tuesday. A deluge of Republican heavyweights such as DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and others are contemplating an entry.
Trump is currently leading his 2024 GOP peers, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate. He launched his campaign last November and has occasionally swiped at Romney.