While Romney, a centrist, became known during his Senate career as one of Trump’s outspoken critics, he disclosed this week that he made a phone call to the Biden White House advocating a pardon for Trump. Romney said he believed it was bad for the country’s faith in democratic institutions to watch a political leader and former president being prosecuted by the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n

“I called a member of the White House, one of the senior advisers to President Biden, and I said if the Justice Department decides to indict President Trump, I hope President Biden will immediately eliminate that, and that he will provide a pardon immediately,” Romney told CNN’s Dana Bash.<\/p>\n

“Why? No. 1, I don’t want the anger and the hate and the vitriol. But No. 2, we just can’t begin to be prosecuting political opponents,” Romney added. “Pardoning at that point would have been a way to make that very clear.”<\/p>\n

As a senator, Romney was widely viewed as holding a measured take on both parties, stirring bipartisan praise during his time in Congress for espousing an independent mindset. In addition to urging Biden not to pursue charges against Trump, Romney at one point urged Trump not to push investigations<\/a> into Biden.<\/p>\n

President Joe Biden, center, prepares to posthumously present the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to former Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney on behalf of his late father, George Romney, in the East Room of the White House, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo\/Manuel Balce Ceneta)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Romney has a long history<\/a> of going against Trump. He opposed<\/a> Trump’s first GOP nomination for the presidency in 2016 and was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump in both his impeachment trials, making him the first senator in U.S. history to vote to remove a president from office from the same party. Romney has said he did not vote for Trump in 2020 and pledged not to vote for him in 2024.<\/p>\n

Under Trump, “it’s pretty clear that the party is inclined to a populist demagogue message,” Romney said in a 2023 interview<\/a> with the Washington Pos<\/em>t.<\/p>\n

During that interview, Romney also criticized Biden, then the sitting president, and Trump, who was seeking to make a political comeback for a second term.<\/p>\n

“Biden is unable to lead on important matters, and Trump is unwilling to lead on important matters,” Romney said. “I know that there are some in MAGA-world who would like Republican rule, or authoritarian rule by Donald Trump.”<\/p>\n

However, Romney drew the line at Biden’s DOJ prosecuting Trump.<\/p>\n

The former senator’s latest comments to CNN come after he said in May 2024 that Biden could have made himself “the big guy” in the room by pardoning Trump.<\/p>\n

“Had I been President Biden, when the Justice Department brought on indictments, I would have immediately pardoned him. I’d have pardoned President Trump. Why? Well, because it makes me, President Biden, the big guy and the person I pardoned a little guy,” Romney said during an MSNBC interview. “Frankly, the country doesn’t want to have to go through prosecuting a former president. … I think it’s a terrible fault for our country to see people attacking our

James Comey<\/a>, one of his top political foes, was indicted.<\/p>\n

SPEAKER JOHNSON’S HOUSE MAJORITY STRENGTHENED AFTER VINCE FONG SWORN IN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Romney said Trump wants to see Comey humiliated after the FBI, under his direction, launched an investigation in 2016 into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to influence the election. Trump has often called the investigation a “hoax” after the investigation fizzled out following yearslong scrutiny.<\/p>\n

“The most powerful negative emotion is humiliation. If you’ve been humiliated, the response is the most significant,” Romney said. “And I think President Trump, when he was not in office, was humiliated by these actions where he sat in a New York courtroom at the defendant table being chastised by a judge and being attacked by a prosecutor.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n