Senator Mitt RomneyR-Utah argued that President Joe Biden should pardon Donald Trump Department of Justice brought indictments against the former president and pressured New York prosecutors not to pursue Trump’s case ongoing hush money trial.
In an exclusive interview with MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle,” Romney expressed concern in response to Republican lawmakers, including the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. vice presidential prospectsDefending Trump Outside the Manhattan courthouse Where Trump’s silence trial is taking place.
“How does that make you feel about Republicans?” Ruhle asked Romney.
Romney, a A sharp critic of Trump, said, “I think it’s a huge mistake for our country to see people attack our legal system — it’s a huge mistake,” he said. “I think it’s also humiliating for people to run for vice president wearing a red tie and standing outside the courthouse, and I felt awkward.”
The Utah Republican argued that Biden should have pardoned Trump when the Justice Department announced it charges against him and “made a big mistake” by not pressuring the current president’s New York prosecutors to drop their case against Trump. (Presidents can only pardon in federal cases).
“He had to fight like crazy to keep this prosecution from going forward. It was a win for Donald Trump,” Romney said, referring to Biden.
Pressed by Ruh on whether Biden has a case for pardoning Trump, Romney said he believes Biden should follow the example of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, saying the president could step in and urge New York prosecutors to drop the case.
“I’ve been around for a while, if LBJ was president and he didn’t want this to happen, he would be all over the prosecutor saying, ‘You better not bring this up or I’m going to fire you,'” he said.
Ruhle further noted that Romney supports separate but equal branches of government.
“I do. …I mean, you may not agree with this, but if I were President Biden, when the Department of Justice brought charges, I would immediately pardon him… President Trump. Why? Well, because that makes me, President Biden , makes a big boy and a little boy the person I forgive.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. and Trump’s potential vice presidents have made public appearances in front of a Manhattan courthouse to express their support and loyalty to Trump as he is required to appear in the hush money lawsuit against him. the conviction limits his time on the campaign trail. Potential VP picks, including Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, have repeated without evidence Trump’s accusations that the trial is a Democrat-led effort to interfere with his campaign.
Biden and Trump on Wednesday agreed to participate in the general election debates in June and September, at least the former will not have a live audience. Romney, who ran for president against Barack Obama in 2012, said he had “low expectations” of Biden but “higher expectations” of Trump when asked whether the debate would matter today and whether he thought it would affect votes. .
“The image that comes to mind is those two old guys from the Muppets, you know, Statler and Waldorf sitting in the back, but I actually think there’s going to be a great audience for these debates. ” he said. “I think people have very low expectations of what President Biden is going to do. I think they have higher expectations of President Trump and his competitiveness.”
Romney added that he had a “good exchange” with Biden and that Trump “seems energetic and strong” during his rallies, but he’s not sure what to expect when they go head-to-head during the debates.
“There’s a crowd cheering you on and there’s teleprompters you can read, what are they going to be like in person?” Romney said, referring to the presidential campaign. “I don’t know the answer to that, but I think America will look at it.”
Jesse Rodriguez contributed.