Mitt Romney says Obama and Biden are honorable men, rebukes Trump for 'sexual relations outside of marriage'
Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah had nothing but kind words for President Obama and his Vice President Joe Biden, after he called both of them "honorable" men. However, he refrained to make the same compliment about President Trump in an awkward exchange just moments later.
During a conversation with Axios, Romney was asked if he thought his 2012 presidential rival was an "honorable man."
"I believe he's an honorable man, yes," he answered. "A good family man and he made a lot of mistakes. Most presidents do."
Axios executive editor Mike Allen then asked him, "Is Joe Biden an honorable man?"
"You know, I don't know Joe Biden terribly well, but from everything I've seen and the interactions I've had with him, he seems to me like a man of honor," Romney responded.
The interviewer then asked the same question about President Trump, backing the Utah senator into a corner, Fox News reports.
"I knew where you were going, but I'm not going to let you catch me in a corner," Romney said. "He has elements, I'm sure, of honor in his life and there are things that I think are not honorable. And, I mention that because of the payment to a porn star for sexual relations outside of marriage."
"Look, I'm one of those who believes we have a responsibility to be honorable and faithful to our wives and the president made a failing in that regard," he insisted.
Throughout the interview that followed, the former Massachusetts governor was highly critical of the commander-in-chief.
"People will recognize that character really is important in our leaders and that it's important for our leaders to do things that unify us, that welcome people who come here legally as immigrants, that in no way signal to anybody in America that they're less of an American because of where they came from or their sexual orientation or their race or their religion," he said.
According to him, the future will not be kind to Trump's legacy.
"We should never abandon our friends," Romney said, referring to Trump's recent move to withdraw troops from northern Syria, which has drawn a backlash from several lawmakers and analysts who saw it as an abandonment of US-allied Kurdish forces.
"Clearly, the world watches and people who potentially could be our allies at a critical time say perhaps the U.S. won't stay with us," Romney added. "Perhaps they'll cut and run if they think it's in their best interest. And, walking away from the Kurds in a corner of Syria at a critical time when the troops coming from Turkey are intent upon doing them harm is something which I think would be a very dark spot in American history."