Sen. Mitt Romney announced he will not run for a second term on Wednesday.
In an interview with the Deseret News on Wednesday, Romney said he will be “watching to see who the people of Utah elect to become our senator, but we need the next generation to step forward.”
He said he has no plans to run for president: “You know, I wish people were clamoring for that to happen. That’s not going to happen.”
Romney said he still has work to do during his remaining time in the Senate.
“I’m hoping that in the year and a half I have left that we’re going to be able to take on some of those issues, particularly as it relates to the deficit and debt and immigration,” he said.
But those issues require presidential leadership, he said.
“And we’re not seeing that either from President Biden on those issues, or former President Trump. For instance, they both said that they won’t touch entitlements. Well, that’s where two-thirds of our spending is. So we’re not serious about the deficit if we’re not going to touch entitlements. On Ukraine, particularly Russia, and China, neither of them have really made the commitments that I think are necessary to lead there,” he said.
Romney said he “cares deeply” about the state and future of the Republican Party.
“I represent a minority wing of the party that cares about character, that cares about the debt, that cares about our role in the world and helping Ukraine defend itself,” he said. “I recognize that my wing of the party is small, but I believe it will come back and I will do what I can to help restore what I think is the ‘wise wing’ of the Republican Party.”