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Romney Says His Wife, Kids Want Him to Run for President
Thursday, June 30, 2016 08:50 AM
By: Sandy Fitzgerald
Mitt Romney said Wednesday his family has been pushing him to jump into the race "late in the process" as an independent candidate, but he will not be mounting a bid.
"I got an email from one of my sons yesterday that said, 'You've got to get in, Dad. You've got to get in,'" the 2012 Republican nominee told CBS' John Dickerson in an interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado, reports Politico.
Romney said his family started pushing late because they were "concerned about the direction of the nominating process in our party," but Donald Trump's lock on the nomination was one of the reasons he decided to stay out.
"I just don't think in good conscience that I'm the right person to run as long as there was a better alternative, who had a better chance of winning, rather," he told Dickerson. "And once the nomination was locked up I didn't see a chance of winning that was realistic."
Romney also said a presidential race would have been hard on his family, even though his wife and kids were pushing him to do it.
"It's hard on family," the former Massachusetts governor said. "It's hard on your spouse sitting there in debates just agonizing over what you're going to say next. Or what your kids have to go through. Or your grandkids go through," he said.
But Romney did admit that he has thought about mounting a race "from time to time," but he does not believe an independent candidate could win, and he does not like the idea of being a "spoiler" who is running in order to stop another candidate from winning.
He said he will still campaign for candidates who have views close to his own, but predicted that with the race going the way it is now, "it's very possible both nominees can implode in one way or another," but still, he does not believe a Trump nomination will destroy the Republican Party.
