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Romney launches Senate bid with dig at Trump

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WASHINGTON: Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, announced on Friday he would run for a US Senate seat in Utah, confirming months of speculation about a return to national politics.


“I’ve decided to run for United States Senate because I’ve decided I can help bring Utah’s values and Utah’s lessons to Washington,” Romney, who is seeking to replace retiring Senator Orrin Hatch, said in a video posted to Twitter.


Much of Romney’s video focused on Utah values versus the Washington culture.


“Utah has a lot to teach the politicians in Washington,” he said. “... Utah welcomes legal immigrants from around the world. Washington sends immigrants a message of exclusion. And on Utah’s Capitol Hill, people treat one another with respect.”


Trump has called for building a wall on the country’s border with Mexico and limiting legal migration.


Romney, the son of former Michigan governor George Romney, served as governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007.


Before that, he helped found the buyout firm Bain Capital and gained prominence after stepping in to lead the organising committee for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics after a bribery scandal.


Romney first sought the presidency in 2008 but lost the Republican nomination to Arizona Senator John McCain.


Four years later, Romney won the party’s nomination but was defeated by incumbent Democratic president Barack Obama.


Romney is the front-runner in the November election in Republican-dominated Utah.


According to the Federal Election Commission, the field includes five other people, including a Salt Lake City councilwoman and a Marine Corps veteran. The race will be Romney’s second for the Senate.


In 1994, he failed to oust Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy from his seat in Massachusetts.


Hatch, 83, the most senior Republican in the Senate, said last month he would not seek an eighth term.


Trump had urged Hatch to run again in an apparent attempt to head off Romney.


During the 2016 presidential campaign, Romney excoriated Trump as a “fraud” who was “playing the American public for suckers.” Trump responded that Romney had “choked like a dog” in his race against Obama.


However, after Trump won the presidency in November 2016, he briefly considered whether to pick Romney as his secretary of state. — Reuters


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