Senator Mitt Romney said President Joe Biden “made an enormous error” by not pressuring New York prosecutors to drop the criminal case against the former president, which Romney called a “win-win for Donald Trump.”
Trump, the former president and presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, is currently on trial in Manhattan in a criminal hush money case.
Following an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, Trump was indicted in March 2023 on charges of falsifying business records relating to hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels by Cohen during his 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels had alleged she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which he has denied. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and said the case against him is politically motivated. He is the first former president in U.S. history to stand trial in a criminal case.
In an article previewing the upcoming interview on MSNBC set to air at 11 pm E.T. on Wednesday evening, the Utah Republican and Trump critic said Biden “should have fought like crazy to keep this prosecution from going forward,” adding that the case “was a win-win for Donald Trump.” It’s unclear what Romney meant by this or if the topic will be covered further in the upcoming interview.
Newsweek reached out to Senator Romney’s press and communications team via email and they replied with no additional comment.
In conversation with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle, Romney suggested Biden should have taken a play out of former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s book and pardoned Trump. Presidents can only pardon federal offenses, not state-level ones like Trump’s criminal hush money case. Trump faces two federal cases led by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Both cases—one regarding alleged federal election interference and the other involving classified documents—could be resolved by presidential pardon.
He also argued that Biden should have put pressure on the New York prosecutor to drop the case.
“If LBJ had been president, and he didn’t want something like this to happen, he’d have been all over that prosecutor saying, ‘You better not bring that forward or I’m gonna drive you out of office,'” Romney said in reference to Trump’s ongoing trial.
He went on to say that “had I been President Biden, when the Justice Department brought on indictments, I would have immediately pardoned [President Trump],” adding that the move would make “me, President Biden, the big guy and the person I pardoned a little guy.”
Romney’s comments come as Biden and the former president prepare to face off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election. When asked if the debates will impact votes, Romney said, “The image that comes to mind is those two old guys on the Muppets,” and quickly followed up saying, “I actually think there’ll be a huge audience for these debates. I think people have very low expectations as to what President Biden will do. I think they have much higher expectations about President Trump and his competitiveness.”
When pressed about what his expectations are, Romney replied, “I share the public perceptions, we will see what happens,” adding that “America will be watching.”
The presidential race remains very close, as do the Senate and House races. Romney is not seeking re-election in 2024, and his Utah seat is expected to remain Republican.
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