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Mitt Romney told reporters on Friday that he was not at the head of the "Never Trump" movement among Republicans, a statement that contradicts the very critical remarks made during the 2016 campaign and the following years .
The former Massachusetts governor and candidate for the 2012 Republican Presidential Election is Senate candidate for Utah. On Friday, he attended a rally in the suburbs of Phoenix in support of Arizona GOP Senator Martha McSally.
Asked, "You led the Never Trump movement, what happened to that?" Said Romney smiling, "I do not think that's the case.
"President Trump was not the person for whom I wanted to become our party's candidate, but he is now president.
"The policies he has promoted have been quite effective and I support many of these policies. When there is a place where I disagree, I point it out.
In March 2016Romney opened fire on the Republican-era favorite when he told a crowd in Salt Lake City: "If we, Republicans, choose Donald Trump as a candidate, the prospects for a future safe and prosperous are greatly reduced. "
What was at odds with what he added on Friday night in Arizona: "Right now we are in a place where we are going to say, 'Are we going to be guided by conservative principles or are we going to turn abruptly left? "And conservative principles work and that's why I think people will rally to Martha McSally and Republicans across the country."
When asked if he would support the Trump investigations when he arrived in the Senate, Romney smiled and walked away.
Trump smiled and walked away from Romney during the presidential transition when he played the role of secretary of state before his rival before choosing oil industry leader Rex Tillerson in what many saw as deliberate humiliation .
Romney launches a vast attack on Trump: "A genius that's not"
Romney then criticized Trump for his equivocal response to white nationalist demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, and his support for far-right Justice Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate elections.
In his Salt Lake City speech in March 2016, Romney also called Trump "fake" and "fraud" and questioned his business acumen. He maintained his opposition in the months that followed, claiming that Trump's effect on the Republican party "broke my heart."
In response, Trump said that Romney "was choked like a dog" when he applied for the 2008 nomination and the presidency in 2012. That year, said the billionaire, Romney said. asked for his endorsement.
"I could have said, Mitt, get on your knees," Trump said. "He would have fallen to his knees."
This year, while Democrats were elected to the House, Republicans were hoping that a successful run of challenges in the Senate would help them retain control of the upper house.
Utah is a deep red state that Trump won comfortably in 2016, although Trump's independent conservative, Evan McMullin, won 21% of the vote. Romney has clearly taken the lead this year against Democrat Jenny Wilson.
McSally is in a much tighter fight against Kyrsten Sinema. Neither she nor Romney mentioned Trump in their remarks at the Phoenix rally.
In May, Romney revealed who he voted for in 2016. It was not Trump. Hillary Clinton either. Instead, the former candidate voted for his wife's wife, Ann.
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