Former governor and ex-Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has given up on his brief dream of becoming president, acknowledging that his brain is shrinking.
The right-leaning Deseret News podcast spoke with Romney in an extensive interview that ended with a question about his 2028 intentions.
The site, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Romney is a member, spoke with the Donald Trump foe, as the Republican Party enters a kind of identity crisis about life after the MAGA founder.
McKay Coppins asked Romney about a possible campaign as a joke, promising, “just kidding,” but it was something Romney wanted to talk about. The often reserved ex-politician issued quite the attack on Trump, without even mentioning his name.
“I’m glad you’ve raised that,” Romney said with a wry smile. “I wanted to announce that I am running one more time.”
After they both laughed, Romney explained, “The truth is the truth is, you know, I remember talking to my dad about this. And, you know, in his 80s, he said, ‘Oh, I would love to do it again.’ And the reality is, sure, I would love to do it again. And this time I might get it right, you know, third time’s a charm.”
Coppins cracked that “80 isn’t what it used to be.”
But Romney cited Bill Bryson’s book The Body: “He points out that the human brain shrinks by 20 percent by the time you’re 80 years of age. Twenty percent smaller, just the size of the brain itself. So I basically think people who are 80 and above really should not be running the world or running the country.”
Coppins agreed it was “probably some good wisdom.”
Trump, who just turned 80 years old, became the oldest person elected to the presidency in 2024. In the first year of his second term, his gaffes have prompted questions about his mental acuity, forgetfulness and exhaustion.
Despite the tumultuous time in politics and for the Republican Party, Romney confessed he’s a pessimist by nature, but his optimism about the U.S. on its 250th birthday comes from his faith in the American people.
Trump’s name wasn’t mentioned, but he loomed as Romney addressed specific policies he has concerns about, like China, artificial intelligence, and the proliferation of wealth for those who now have the power to buy an election.
“The decay of many of our institutions — that’s a challenge,” Romney added. “I’m I’m concerned about the amount of money a few people are getting. I mean, the idea that Elon Musk is going to be a trillionaire. What does that mean? We’re talking about a thousand billions. And that means, you know, he could drop a couple of billion in a political campaign to support someone who would give him even more power. Uh and he’s not just the only one. I shouldn’t just pick on him, but there are others are going to [have] hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth [who] they will influence our political system.”
Romney also gave a list of some of his favorite recipes he has started cooking in his retirement, including turkey meatballs and ham and beans, a historic soup available in the Senate for the past 100 years.
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