Romney Addresses SWM Economic Club

rmoney
rmoney

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is sticking to his guns on the matter of Donald Trump. Speaking to the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan Tuesday, Romney said Trump has “failings of a personal nature” that Romney can’t look past. The current nominee won’t get his vote.

“I happen to think that supporting the country comes first, and if the Republican is the best person to be president, that’s who I’ll support, and if not, then I won’t,” Romney said.

Romney said it’s not the party leadership that picks nominees. It’s the voters, and sometimes their choices can be a little difficult to understand.

“I can’t possibly explain what we’re seeing this year,” Romney said to laughter and applause. “It is a surreal experience to watch this campaign.”

Romney said he’s not voting for either Trump or Hillary Clinton. He also spoke about the challenges America faces if it wants to remain the world’s leader, saying the national debt has to be reduced, education has to be improved, and entitlement programs have to be reformed if that’s to happen. He stressed the need to welcome enterprise.

“If you want to get people out of poverty, the single most important thing you can do as a nation is to adopt free enterprise and capitalism,” Romney said. “The American way works.”

A Michigan native, Romney enacted a massive reform of healthcare in Massachusetts while serving as the state’s governor. He also founded the venture capital and investment firm Bain Capital, and is the director of Marriott International. Coming up next in the current economic club speaker series will be former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, astronaut Scott Kelly, physicist Michio Kaku, and journalist Anderson Cooper.