Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called out the majority of Iowa Republican caucus voters who baselessly believe that President Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election legitimately.
“I think a lot of people in this country are out of touch with reality and will accept anything Donald Trump tells them,” Romney, who announced in September that he is not seeking reelection, told CNN journalist Manu Raju on Wednesday.
About 65% of Iowa caucusgoers said they believe former President Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him, according to entrance poll data.
“You had a jury that said that Donald Trump raped a woman. And that doesn’t seem to be moving the needle. There’s a lot of things about today’s electorate that I have a hard time understanding,” Romney added, referring to a case brought against Trump by the writer E. Jean Carroll in which a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse.
The 2012 GOP presidential nominee has been critical of Trump in recent years, refusing to vote for him in 2016 and 2020 and straying from the Republican Party’s general support for Trump. In June, Romney said the Justice Department’s decision to bring charges against Trump for his mishandling of classified documents was Trump’s own fault. He has also repeatedly warned that Trump’s reelection could harm the country.
Following his victory in the Iowa caucus this week, Trump appears likely to become the Republican presidential nominee despite his numerous legal challenges and his removal from ballots in Colorado and Maine.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), another presidential hopeful, argued that if Trump is nominated, the GOP will lose in November, because all of Trump’s challenges would be at the forefront of the race.
“If Donald Trump is the nominee, the election will revolve around all these legal issues — his trials, perhaps convictions if he goes to trial and loses there, and about things like Jan. 6,” DeSantis said during a CNN town hall on Tuesday, referring to the violent mob of Trump supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol in January 2021.
“We’re going to lose if that’s the decision voters are making based on that,” DeSantis added. “We don’t want it to be a referendum on those issues.”
Trump is facing 91 felony counts across his various court cases, including accusations of fraud, defamation and sexual assault. He is also accused of paying hush money to an adult film star and mishandling classified documents.