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Mitt Romney will be defined by opposing Trump
Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, DC shares his perspective on US politics:
Mitt Romney is retiring from the Senate. Will he be missed?
Utah Senator Mitt Romney and former Republican presidential candidate announced this week that he won't be running for reelection in the Senate to represent Utah in the next election cycle. Some people are speculating that this is because he might lose a primary challenge.
Romney remains pretty popular in his home state, but he does represent a dying breed of Republican, which is kind of a Reagan's Republican, Reagan's Republican. He's firmly from the pro-business country club wing of the party that has really been demolished by President Trump over the last several years as more populist Republicans, who have a stronger appeal to white working-class voters, have really taken over the party and trying to reshape it in President Trump's image. Romney was well-liked by some people in Washington, but not necessarily by his Republican colleagues in the Senate, where he was a bit of an oddball, supporting President Trump's impeachment, going against the tide of several other Republicans on a host of issues. And even though he ran as a conservative Republican in the 2012 nomination process that he won, he's now retiring with a reputation as a moderate Republican in today's party.
Romney always had kind of a difficult time fitting into the political world. He was obviously a businessman who was looking for ways to succeed, running as pretty liberal on issues like abortion when he was governor of Massachusetts and then positioning himself as, quote, “severely conservative” when he ran for the Republican nomination in 2012. And his legacy, however, is probably going to be mostly defined by his opposition to President Donald Trump over the last several years in his tenure as a Utah senator.
He'll probably be replaced by somebody further to the right of him. And the Senate itself is set to go through a generational transition as more of the old era Republicans start to retire and a new crop comes up. It's going to move the party in this much more populist direction.
- Romney: Sloppy classified docs "a danger" ›
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- Ian interviews Mitt Romney: US political divisions & tough foreign policy calls ›
- Sen. Mitt Romney on DC dysfunction, Russian attacks, and banning TikTok ›
- Podcast: Mitt Romney on uncharted US waters, Russian malevolence, & China’s economic ambition ›
Will the US default on its debt? Ask GZERO World's guests
It's the question swirling around Washington this week (and last week, and the week before, etc, etc). It's of concern to US allies and of great interest to US adversaries: Will the United States government default on its debt for the first time in history? Depending on the day of the week, or the hour of the day, you may get a different answer from politicians and pundits alike.
On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, though, guests from the past few months, including Utah Senator Mitt Romney, World Bank Group President David Malpass, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have struck a common chord: it won't happen, but if it does, we're in for a hurting. Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer on public television stations nationwide. Check local listings.
- US debt default would be "destabilizing," says World Bank's David Malpass ›
- Sen. Mitt Romney on DC dysfunction, Russian attacks, and banning TikTok ›
- Pete Buttigieg explains: How the debt limit impacts transportation ›
- Chris Christie weighs in on US debt limit fight ›
- US debt limit: default unlikely, dysfunction probable ›
Ian interviews Mitt Romney: US political divisions & tough foreign policy calls
Note: This interview appeared as part of an episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, "Sen. Mitt Romney on DC dysfunction, Russian attacks, and banning TikTok" on February 6, 2023.
On GZERO World, Utah Senator Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate sits down for an exclusive interview with Ian Bremmer to talk debt ceiling drama, Ukraine war fatigue, and pondering war with China. He also has thoughts on the "woke-ism" debate and whether the US should ban TikTok.
Back in 2012, as a presidential candidate, Romney was mocked by Barack Obama during a debate for claiming that Russia was America’s top geopolitical threat. Now, he shares his views about the risk that Russia poses today, where China stacks up in the mix, and much more.
Mitt Romney on the threat Russia poses to the world
It was nearly 11 years ago that then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney sat on stage with then-president Barack Obama and was ridiculed for identifying Russia as America’s chief geopolitical foe. Looking back today, the Utah Senator stands by what he said then. And he looks a heck of a lot smarter on the subject today than he may have in 2012. “They were a geopolitical adversary. No question about it. Every initiative that we had at the UN, they would block.”
In the latest episode of GZERO World, Ian Bremmer sits down with Senator Romney in his DC office to discuss a range of geopolitical issues, including the current threat that Russia poses, not just to Ukraine but to the world at large. But when Bremmer presses the Senator on how far US military support for Ukraine should go, Romney punts the question back onto the Biden administration. “Someone's got to lay out how we get where we want to get as opposed to just hoping that the extraordinary resolve of the Ukrainian military and of their people, that that'll be enough.”
Watch the GZERO World episode: Sen. Mitt Romney on DC dysfunction, Russian attacks, and banning TikTok
The fundraising prowess of "wokeism"
In a development that will surprise exactly no one, there’s more than a little kicking and screaming going on these days in Washington over the debt ceiling debate. Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a throwback from another era of US politics, has a message for the rabble-rousers on both sides: pipe down.
That means stop playing brinkmanship with a US debt default, Romney tells Ian Bremmer in the latest episode of GZERO World.
“Our economy will be dramatically impacted almost immediately” Romney warns, if a default comes to pass. Despite the dysfunction that is already kneecapping this young Congressional session, Romney is confident that a deal will get passed before the worst comes to pass. “At the end of the day we are going to get it done, because if we don’t we’ll get blamed.”
Watch the GZERO World episode: Sen. Mitt Romney on DC dysfunction, Russian attacks, and banning TikTok
Romney: Sloppy classified docs "a danger"
These days, it seems like every government official—and their mother—has some classified documents stored away at the family beach house. Utah Senator Mitt Romney, however, assures Ian Bremmer that he hasn’t purloined any compromised files. “I must admit that the sloppiness, the carelessness that we've seen from this president and from the prior president is really disturbing” Romney tells Bremmer in the latest episode of GZERO World, “and it does not look good on them or on our country, and is frankly, of a danger to our national security.”
Watch the GZERO World episode: Sen. Mitt Romney on DC dysfunction, Russian attacks, and banning TikTok
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- What We're Watching: Biden's secret papers, Ukrainians in Oklahoma, Tigrayan demobilization ›
- Mitt Romney will be defined by opposing Trump - GZERO Media ›
Sen. Mitt Romney on TikTok: Shut it down
In response to news of a Chinese spy balloon floating over sensitive national security areas in the United States, Utah Senator Mitt Romney tweeted on Friday morning, “A big Chinese balloon in the sky and millions of Chinese TikTok balloons on our phones. Let’s shut them all down.”
\u201cA big Chinese balloon in the sky and millions of Chinese TikTok balloons on our phones. Let\u2019s shut them all down.\u201d— Senator Mitt Romney (@Senator Mitt Romney) 1675438961
It’s not the first time that the Senator has insisted, in no uncertain terms, that the wildly popular social media app should be banned here in the United States.
In an exclusive GZERO World interview with Ian Bremmer, Romney said, “If there is a capacity of the Chinese Communist Party to be able to spy on American citizens by using TikTok, then we have to prevent it from being used here.”
Watch the GZERO World episode: Sen. Mitt Romney on DC dysfunction, Russian attacks, and banning TikTok
- Sen. Mitt Romney on DC dysfunction, Russian attacks, and banning TikTok ›
- Be very scared of AI + social media in politics ›
- Graphic Truth: The world is crazy for TikTok ›
- Podcast: Mitt Romney on uncharted US waters, Russian malevolence, & China’s economic ambition ›
- US debt hits record: Should you worry? ›
- US debt ceiling looms over a House divided ›
- TikTok is the ultimate propaganda tool, says tech expert Scott Galloway - GZERO Media ›
- Mitt Romney will be defined by opposing Trump - GZERO Media ›
- Norway's school phone ban aims to reclaim "stolen focus", says PM Jonas Støre - GZERO Media ›
- The US vs TikTok (and China) - GZERO Media ›
Who will cave on raising US debt ceiling (again?)
In a development that will surprise exactly no one, there’s more than a little kicking and screaming going on these days in Washington over the debt ceiling debate. On GZERO World, Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a throwback from another era of US politics, has a message for the rabble-rousers on both sides: pipe down.
That means stop playing brinkmanship with a US debt default, Romney tells Ian Bremmer in the latest episode of GZERO World.
“Our economy will be dramatically impacted almost immediately” Romney warns, if a default comes to pass. Despite the dysfunction that is already kneecapping this young Congressional session, Romney is confident that a deal will get passed before the worst comes to pass. “At the end of the day we are going to get it done, because if we don’t we’ll get blamed.”
Watch the GZERO World episode: Sen. Mitt Romney on DC dysfunction, Russian attacks, and banning TikTok
- Podcast: Mitt Romney on uncharted US waters, Russian malevolence, & China’s economic ambition ›
- US debt hits record: Should you worry? ›
- US debt ceiling looms over a House divided ›
- Explaining the long history of US debt (& which other countries are saddled with debt) - GZERO Media ›
- US debt limit: default unlikely, dysfunction probable - GZERO Media ›
- US government shutdown: No end in sight - GZERO Media ›