Former GOP presidential nominee and current Utah Senate candidate Mitt Romney on Thursday predicted that President Trump would win a second term in 2020.
Romney, who once called Trump a “con man,” said Trump would “easily” win the Republican party’s presidential nomination and “solidly” win a second term while addressing a group of GOP donors.
“I think President Trump will be re-nominated by my party easily, and I think he’ll be reelected solidly,” Romney said, according to Politico.
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“I think that not just because of the strong economy and because people are increasingly seeing rising wages, but I think it’s also true because I think our Democrat friends are likely to nominate someone who is really out of the mainstream of American thought and will make it easier for a president who is presiding over a growing economy,” he continued.
Romney was a harsh critic of the president during the 2016 presidential race, but relations between him and Trump and have somewhat tempered since then.
Last week, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee said that he does not see Trump as a good “role model” for his grandchildren, further criticizing the president for having “departed in some cases from the truth and has attacked in a way that I think is not entirely appropriate.”
Now, Romney, who is running in Utah’s GOP primary to replace retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch (R), said the president’s impact on the improving economy will bolster the president’s a reelection bid.
Romney has been endorsed by Hatch and came in second place during the final round of voting at Utah’s GOP convention, which forced a runoff.
He is set to face state Rep. Mike Kennedy (R) in the runoff later this month.