8th November, 2020
U.S. Republican Senator Mitt Romney has likened outgoing President Donald Trump to a 900-pound gorilla of the party.
Romney, who was a former presidential candidate of the party, was reacting to Trump’s campaign against the integrity of American democracy.
In interviews with both the NBC and CNN, the senator warned that Donald Trump is starting to sound like an authoritarian leader, in denouncing the polls that he lost.
He urged him to ‘be careful in the choice of words’ he uses.
‘I think when you say that the election was corrupt or stolen or rigged, that that’s unfortunately rhetoric that gets picked up by authoritarians around the world,’ the Utah senator told NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ host Chuck Todd.
‘And I think it also discourages confidence in our democratic process here at home.’
‘And with a battle going on right now between authoritarianism and freedom, why, I think it’s very important that we not use language which can encourage a course in history which would be very, very unfortunate,’ Romney added.
Romney said Trump ‘is without question the most powerful voice in our Party. He will have an enormous impact on our Party going forward.’
‘He is not disappearing by any means,’ Romney said of Trump. ‘He is the 900-pound gorilla when it comes to the Republican Party.’
Romney said while joining CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ for another interview Sunday morning, ‘There’s just no evidence’ of widespread fraud or corruption in this election. ,
‘I think it’s important for us to recognize that the world is watching,’ he added speaking to CNN host Jake Tapper. ‘I would prefer the world to be watching a more graceful departure.’
Romney, never a fan of Trump, has congratulated President-elect Joe Biden.