Don Jr says Mitt Romney 'got one right' after he says Trump will win 2024 GOP nomination in a 'landslide'
Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) predicted that former President Donald J Trump would easily win the GOP nomination in 2024 if he decided to run for the White House, indicating his strong influence on the GOP weeks after leaving office. Donald Trump Jr did not miss the opportunity to poke fun at the senator, saying he finally "got one right."
Romney made the assertion during a conversation with the New York Times's DealBook DC Policy Project on Tuesday. "I don't know if he'll run in 2024 or not, but if he does, I'm pretty sure he will win the nomination," he said.
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According to the longtime Trump critic, "a lot can happen between now and 2024." He continued: "I look at the polls, and the polls show that among the names being floated as potential contenders in 2024, if you put President Trump in there among Republicans, he wins in a landslide." Romney's predictions were soon noticed by the former president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, who reacted to the same on Twitter. "Well look at that... Mitt got one right," Trump Jr. wrote, quoting a tweet by New York Times correspondent Annie Karni.
Well look at that... Mitt got one right. https://t.co/eC4K8kVBPl
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 24, 2021
The Utah senator, however, indicated that he would throw his support behind someone else if Trump decided to run. "I would not be voting for President Trump again. I haven't voted for him in the past. And I would probably be getting behind somebody who I thought more represented the tiny wing of the Republican Party that I represent," he said.
Following his acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial, Trump told his supporters that "our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun." Nearly a month after leaving office, the 45th POTUS continues to hold majority support among the GOP base; 53 percent of respondents expressed their support of him in a Politico / Morning Consult survey. Former Vice President Mike Pence is a distant second in the poll with 12 percent support.
Earlier this week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also made predictions about Trump's future in the Republican party. He told Fox News' Sean Hannity he believes Trump will “lead the Republican party on policy” over the next few months and play a significant role in unifying the GOP to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in 2022. “I’ve never felt better about President Trump’s leading the party than I do right now,” Graham said.
It's worth noting that Romney was the sole Republican to vote twice in favor of Trump's impeachment. He is among the seven Republican senators who voted for impeachment, three of whom have already been "censured" or formally condemned by their state party.
Some Republicans in Utah, Romney's home state, have accused him of "embarrassing" them, saying he is not representing their interests and is an "agent of the deep state." An online petition is calling for a censure motion against the senator.
However, some GOP leaders in Utah have put out a statement saying they are not backing the effort as they support a "diversity of thought."
"The differences between our own Utah Republicans showcase a diversity of thought, in contrast to the danger of a party fixated on 'unanimity of thought,'" they wrote last week. "There is power in our differences as a political party, and we look forward to each senator explaining their votes to the people of Utah."