Romney: I wouldn't have swapped for Bergdahl


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

NEW YORK (CNN) — Had Mitt Romney defeated President Barack Obama for the presidency in 2012, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl might still be a prisoner to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"I don't think I would have made the trade," the 2012 Republican presidential nominee said Thursday on NBC's "Today Show."

Bergdahl was charged Wednesday with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, about nine months after he was freed by his captors after Obama agreed to release five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. One of the prisoners had tried to contact the Taliban from his captivity in Qatar, according to a Director of National Intelligence report.

Romney said that while the U.S. military has a policy of "leave no one behind," the U.S. also has a policy of not negotiating with terrorists. And Romney suggested the Taliban prisoners represented a threat and should not have been released.

Related:

Romney added that Obama should have consulted Congress before making the swap.

Romney briefly considered a third presidential run earlier this year but quickly bowed out, calling for a new generation of political leaders to take the helm and lead the GOP to the White House.

But would Romney consider the No. 2 spot?

"I don't think anyone wants to be V.P.," Romney said on NBC.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2015 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Related links

Related stories

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

PoliticsU.S.
Jeremy Diamond

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast