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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is already playing a role in the 2020 presidential race, with speculation surfacing Wednesday that the state's newest senator, Mitt Romney, may challenge President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.
The talk of another Romney run for president, fueled by Romney's op-ed in The Washington Post that said Trump "has not risen to the mantle of the office," was shot down by the senator-elect himself on CNN.
Romney credited Trump with being able to win the White House in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper Wednesday afternoon but said he would not challenge Trump for the GOP nomination.
"I have had that experience and by the way, I acknowledge the president was successful and I was not. He did something that I couldn't do. He won," Romney said. "I recognize that and appreciate that. But no, I'm not running again."
He said, however, it's too soon to say whether he'll back a second term for Trump.
"I'm going to wait and see what the alternatives are. I think it's early to make that decision," Romney said of endorsing a Trump run. "We'll see whether someone else does (run) in a Republican primary or not, but time will tell."
Romney's statements come as reports suggest he is being urged to try again for the White House after losing bids in 2008 and in 2012, when he faced off against then-President Barack Obama as the GOP nominee.
The Washington Post quoted a veteran Republican financier who requested anonymity as saying "there is going to be a real race against Trump in 2020 if it keeps going like this."
The same source told the Post some of Romney's biggest donors are ready to support him should he want to run. Romney has continued to bring his backers together annually at a high-profile political retreat in Deer Valley Resort in Park City.
Spencer Zwick, who raised $1 billion for Romney's last presidential run and is a close adviser, "routinely fields calls from donors urging Romney to look hard at 2020," according to the Post.
Others tied to Romney, including former adviser Mike Murphy, have promoted him as an alternative to Trump.
Murphy said on a conservative podcast that while Trump is "like a bumbling incompetent in many ways," Romney is the opposite, a Republican who is a "super-confident, safe, no drama choice."
Longtime Romney supporter Kirk Jowers told the Deseret News that Romney's criticisms in the op-ed, including that "the Trump presidency made a deep descent in December," aren't a signal of his political intentions.
“Sensationalist pundits may try to turn this op-ed into some suggestion that Mitt is posturing for a potential presidential run. It is not,” Jowers said. “Mitt’s words today are consistent with everything he has said over the past several years about President Trump.”
Romney took on Trump during the Republican primary in 2016, in a speech delivered at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics that labeled the then-candidate as a phony and a fraud.
Romney's searing new op-ed: Trump 'has not risen to the mantle of the office'
Two days before he is set to be sworn into office, Senator-elect Mitt Romney did not mince words in an op-ed for the Washington Post about President Donald Trump.Trump went on to finish a distant third in Utah's Republican presidential caucus vote that year, trailing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. In the 2016 presidential race, Trump won Utah but with his lowest margin of victory nationwide.
Chris Karpowitz, co-director of BYU's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy, said it's too soon to say what will happen in the next presidential election — and whether there's a role for Romney.
"I haven't seen any evidence that he is seriously preparing to run in 2020 at this point. Everything I've seen indicates that he's taking very seriously his preparations to be a senator," Karpowitz said.
That won't stop Romney's name from being mentioned alongside other potential GOP contenders, including Kasich and outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., one of Trump's toughest critics in the Senate.
"I think the door is open for sure if he wants to do it," Karpowitz said of Romney, even if he's not seen as eager. "Mostly, it's because there are conservative donors and commentators who are itching to find someone to take up this banner."
