LOCAL NEWS

Romney reflects on Senate term before leaving office

Dec 13, 2024, 1:16 PM | Updated: 4:38 pm

SALT LAKE CITY — After one term in Washington, Sen. Mitt Romney is about to leave office.

Three weeks before his time in the nation’s capital comes to an end, Romney met with Utah reporters during a final news conference Friday to reflect on his service in the U.S. Senate and talk about where he thinks the country is heading under President-elect Donald Trump.

Romney, 77, credited Utah as the launching pad for his public career.

“This is where my public service began,” Romney said, “and this is where it ends.”

The former head of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake went on to become the Republican presidential nominee in 2012. He lost to President Barack Obama. Romney later moved to Utah and was elected as a U.S. senator in 2018.

But Romney is leaving office after just one term, where he was seen largely as an outlier in his own party.

“The Republican Party really is shaped by Donald Trump now,” Romney said.

Romney has been a fierce critic of Trump and did not support him in the 2024 election. But Romney said he believes the president-elect will make a splash, especially on one issue.

“He is going to stop the immigration mess,” Romney said. “I mean, how in the world did Joe Biden let immigration become the problem it’s become?”

Asked if he feared any retribution from Trump — who has repeatedly called for retaliation against his critics — Romney said he thinks the president-elect will look forward, not backward.

“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.”

Legislative accomplishments

As senator, Romney said he focused on getting things done. He cited his work on passing bills dealing with infrastructure, religious liberty, and the Great Salt Lake among other issues.

He believes his replacement in the Senate, Rep. John Curtis, will bring the same attitude.

“I think he’s going to the Senate to do things,” Romney said of Curtis. “There are a lot of people in both houses that want to get things done, and he’s one of them.”

Romney said he’s disappointed Congress hasn’t done more to fix immigration and address the nation’s spiraling debt.

“We will ultimately have calamity in our country unless we deal with the fact that we spend more than we take in,” he said.

Romney struck a strongly internationalist tone during the news conference, and he criticized those in his party who oppose supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

“I know people say, why are we giving money to help Ukraine? It’s because it’s in our interest to do so,” Romney said. “This whole isolationist idea, in my opinion, is a very short-term perspective.”

Future of the GOP

Romney told reporters he still considers himself a Republican even as the party has changed.

“I’m a narrow slice, if you will,” Romney said. “What we used to call the mainstream Republicans, the stream has gotten a little smaller. It’s more like the main-creek Republicans now.”

Romney said the party now includes more working-class voters who became disenchanted by the Democratic party. But the senator clearly dislikes certain aspects of today’s GOP.

“I would like to see the party return to more conservative principles and a principle-based, character-based priority in our party,” Romney said.

As for what’s next after he leaves Washington, Romney said he plans to do some speaking and work with universities. But he said he’s not going back into business, and he’s done with politics.

“My time on that political stage is over,” Romney said. “Started here. Ends here.”

As for how he wants to be remembered, Romney put it plainly.

“I hope my legacy is that I lived by and subscribed to my values,” he said.

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Romney reflects on Senate term before leaving office