Why Mitt Romney thinks President-elect Trump will be focused on governing, not retribution

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said he thinks President-elect Donald Trump will focus more on governing in his second term than seeking retribution against his political enemies.

Romney — the Utah Republican whose public pushback against Trump has earned him villain status among some of the president-elect's most ardent supporters — spoke with local reporters from his Salt Lake City office Friday as he prepares to wrap up his first and only term in the U.S. Senate.

"I think President Trump, in his 'Meet the Press' interview a couple of days ago ... said he's focused on forward," Romney said when asked if he fears personal retribution from Trump. "I think that's probably the course he will take. And there's not something in my past that I'm particularly worried about someone taking a look at. I've been pretty careful in my life to follow the law."

During that same interview with NBC News on Sunday, Trump said members of the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack "should go to jail." On the campaign trail, Trump repeated calls for retaliation against his perceived political enemies, critics and members of the media.

Although Romney didn't serve on the Jan. 6 committee, he was asked about the comments and said "it would be a missed opportunity" for Trump if he chose to go after his old enemies instead of focusing on his policy priorities.

"I think he's savvy enough to say, 'I want to get stuff done. I want to be known for having done things,'" Romney said. "He wants to have a legacy of being admired and respected, and spending your time going after the past is not going to do that."

The possibility of retribution has previously been on the senator's mind, however, as the Atlantic reported in September. Though Romney told the magazine he "can't imagine something I've done that would justify an investigation, let alone an indictment," the senator admitted that Trump "has shown by his prior actions that you can take him at his word."

Romney bid farewell to his colleagues in a speech from the Senate floor last week in Washington, reflecting on the accomplishments of his time in office and saying he hopes to promote "unity and virtue" going forward. In his speech, Romney ticked off a series of bipartisan bills he helped get across the finish line, including the bipartisan infrastructure law, electoral counting reform, gun safety legislation and marriage legislation with religious protections.

"God has blessed America because America is good. There are some today who would tear at our unity, who would replace love with hate, who deride our foundation of virtue, or who debase the values upon which the blessings of heaven depend," Romney said. "A country's character is a reflection not just of its elected officials, but also of its people."

The dwindling GOP 'mainstream'

Just 12 years ago, Romney was the Republican presidential nominee and seen as the de facto face of the GOP. Now — though he still sees himself in the same lineage as Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and John McCain — Romney sits at the outer limits of a party that has been transformed in the image of Trump.

"I'm a narrow slice, if you will, of what we used to call the mainstream Republicans," Romney said when asked how he fits in with the modern GOP. "The stream has gotten a little smaller; it's more like the main creek Republicans now."

While the Republican Party has undergone a dramatic transformation under Trump, Romney said Democrats — and some of the liberal policy positions some have espoused — are in part to blame. The Democrats' old coalition of what Romney called the "education elite," along with working-class voters and minorities, began to fray, the senator said, after "elite progressives started saying some absolutely nutty stuff."

Romney was referring to progressive positions on "defunding the police" and border policy, which he said have driven away many working-class voters who were a key voting group in midwest states that President Barack Obama won in 2008 and 2012.

"The whole transgender and biological males competing in girls sports — that drove a lot of working families and minorities out of the Democratic Party and moved them towards the Republican Party, and then Donald Trump and his rhetoric was only so good at drawing them in," he said. "So the Republican Party is now, I think, if you look at the polling and demographics, the Republican Party is now the class of working America."

At the same time, Romney believes some traditional Republicans — himself included — have been turned off by Trump's rhetoric and character, even if they don't vote Democratic. He said the "Democrat Party is in real trouble, by the way, because they've lost their base."

Still, Romney said the Republican Party's platform hasn't traditionally offered policies that appeal to working-class voters — such as raising the minimum wage or strengthening labor laws — meaning "there's kind of a fissure that exists between Republican voters and Republican policy, and that may present opportunities for some kind of realignment."

"I think the parties are going to have to realign at some point, and they will either follow Donald Trump and pursue that path or another," he said. "If Donald Trump has a successful presidency — which he very well may — as measured by the American people, then (Vice President-elect) JD Vance is very likely to be the next Republican nominee. And he is a smart guy, well-spoken person, and will have a very powerful influence as well."

Romney had kind words for Sen.-elect John Curtis — who will replace him in the Senate on Jan. 3.

"I think he's going to the Senate to do things, and I don't think he is someone who's focused on performance as much as he is focused on doing the job for our state," Romney said. "I've had a number of senators come to me and say, you know, 'I'm sorry to see you go, but I'm really happy to see that your replacement is such a fine person and comes with such a great reputation, having served in the House effectively as he has.'"

What's next for Romney?

Romney's public service career began in Utah when he helped oversee the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. With the Games set to return in 2034, Romney didn't appear too eager to jump back into his previous role.

"I'm happy to help in some way, but I'm kind of long of tooth to be telling (Fraser Bullock) how to run a Games," he said.

So, how will Romney spend his time once he leaves the Senate?

"I'll be doing nothing," the 77-year-old said. "I say that jokingly. ... I'll be working with young people, probably at some college settings. I'll be speaking from time to time. I'm not going to be going back into business, but I'm not going to be a political person. ... My time on that political stage is over — started here, ends here."

That's not to say he won't continue to advocate for things that are important to him, including the future of freedom in America. He referred to a famous quote Benjamin Franklin is reported to have said at the conclusion of the original constitutional convention, when he was asked if the new U.S. government was a "republic or a monarchy."

"A republic, if you can keep it," Franklin said.

"For me," Romney said, "a big part of my life has been trying to find out how we can keep it. ... And history suggests that nations of, by and for the people don't long endure. So, I will do things I think are going to promote the preservation of the union and the cause of freedom, and that may well be in education with our young people. It may be in speaking to leaders in various communities."

"One person standing out can have an enormous impact that people tend to follow," the senator added. "I hope to encourage people to stand up and speak."

Related topics