VIDEO: Romney backs Obama auto decision, praising ‘backbone’

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) backed the plan for GM and Chrysler put forth yesterday by President Obama, the candidate Romney may face in the 2012 presidential election.

“I think a lot of people expected the president just to cave, write a check, and just hope for the better,” Romney said Tuesday morning on CNN. “I think he’s expressing some backbone on this.”

Romney grew up in Michigan, where his father was governor and, at one time, chairman of a now-defunct auto company. The former 2008 presidential candidate, though, was also sure to tout his own calls for bankruptcy last year, when Chrysler and GM first approached the government seeking support.

“That’s something I think he should have said months ago,” Romney claimed. “There were a number of us who said bankruptcy or a bankruptcy-like process was something that was needed to get GM and Chrysler on their feet again.”

Romney, who won the Michigan Republican primary during the 2008 nominating process, called for the use of the “club” of bankruptcy to force the restructuring of the state’s native industry.

“If the parties want to do it voluntarily — and apparently, at this stage, it’s looking like they haven’t been able to — then you’re going to have to have that kind of a club to be able to have these companies restructure their excessive costs,” he asserted.

Watch a video of the interview below: