Mitt Romney

===2016 presidential election===
{{external media|width=210px|float=right|headerimage=[[File:Mitt Romney by Gage Skidmore 9.jpg|250px]]
|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iefXdC794I Watch Mitt Romney's full March 3 speech: 'Trump is a phony, a fraud'], 17:49, see 2;40–10:00, [[PBS Newshour]]<ref name="pbs1">{{cite news |first=Judy |last=Woodruff |title=Romney reappears to lead GOP charge against 'phony' Trump|publisher=[[PBS]]|date=March 3, 2016 |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/romney-reappears-to-lead-gop-charge-against-phony-trump/|access-date=March 3, 2016}}</ref>
|video2=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WvLe9CHcNY Donald Trump responds to Romney's comments at Maine rally], 43:25, see 7:50–10:00, [[PBS Newshour]]
}}

By early 2014, the lack of a clear mainstream Republican candidate for the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election]] led some supporters, donors, and pollsters to suggest that Romney stage a third run.<ref name="bg-2016-run"/> Regarding such a possibility, Romney at first refused.<ref name="bg-2016-run"/> Nevertheless, speculation continued: Obama's declining popularity led to remorse among some voters; the [[2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine]] made Romney's "number one geopolitical foe" remark look prescient; and an August 2014 poll of Iowa Republicans showed Romney with a large lead there over other potential 2016 candidates.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/romney-redux-is-the-media-chorus-for-another-mitt-campaign-just-a-fantasy |title=Romney Redux: Is the media chorus for another Mitt campaign just a fantasy? |first=Howard |last=Kurtz |author-link=Howard Kurtz |work=[[Fox News]] |date=September 3, 2014 |access-date=February 6, 2020 }}</ref> A July 2014 CNN poll showed Romney with a 53% to 44% lead over Obama in a hypothetical election "redo".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theweek.com/speedreads/449247/americans-really-wish-elected-mitt-romney-instead-obama |first=Jon |last=Terbush |title=Americans really wish they had elected Mitt Romney instead of Obama |publisher=Theweek.com |date=July 27, 2014 |access-date=September 12, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Noah |last=Rothman |url=https://hotair.com/archives/noah-rothman/2014/07/27/if-voters-had-it-to-do-over-romney-in-a-landslide/ |title=If voters had it to do over, Romney in a landslide |work=[[Hot Air]] |date=July 27, 2014 |access-date=September 12, 2017}}</ref>

By early 2015, Romney was considering the idea and contacting his network of supporters.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/romney-tells-donors-he-is-considering-2016-white-house-bid-1420839312 |title=Romney Tells Donors He Is Considering 2016 White House Bid|first1=Patrick|last1=O'Connor|first2=Beth|last2=Reinhard|newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=January 9, 2015}}</ref><ref name="wapo-3-2016">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-moves-to-reassemble-campaign-apparatus-for-2016/2015/01/12/d968592e-9a88-11e4-96cc-e858eba91ced_story.html |title=Romney moves to reassemble campaign team for 'almost certain' 2016 bid|first1=Robert|last1=Costa|first2=Philip|last2=Rucker|first3=Karen|last3=Tumulty|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=January 12, 2015}}</ref> In doing so he was positioning himself in the [[invisible primary]] – the preliminary jockeying for the backing of party leaders, donors, and political operatives – against former Florida governor [[Jeb Bush]], who had already set a likely campaign in motion and would be a rival to Romney for establishment Republican support.<ref name="wapo-3-2016" /><ref name="NYT4915">{{cite news|first=Nate |last=Cohn|title=The G.O.P. Presidential Field Looks Chaotic. It's Not|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/upshot/-2015-04-10-2016-elections-upshot-the-gop-presidential-field-looks-chaotic-its-nothtml.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409192806/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/upshot/-2015-04-10-2016-elections-upshot-the-gop-presidential-field-looks-chaotic-its-nothtml.html |archive-date=April 9, 2015 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 9, 2015 |access-date=February 6, 2020 }}</ref> Despite support in some quarters for a third bid for the presidency, there was a backlash from conservatives who wanted a fresher face without a history of presidential losses,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/mitt-romney-backlash-2016-elections-114275 |title=Mitt Romney backlash intensifies |first=Katie |last=Glueck |newspaper=[[Politico]]|date=January 15, 2015 |access-date=February 6, 2020 }}</ref> and many of Romney's past donors were not willing to commit to him again.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/us/mitt-romney-2016-presidential-election.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150130170120/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/us/mitt-romney-2016-presidential-election.html |archive-date=January 30, 2015 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Support Waning, Romney Decides Against 2016 Bid |first1=Ashley |last1=Parker |first2=Jonathan |last2=Martin |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 30, 2015 |access-date=February 6, 2020 }}</ref> On January 30, 2015, Romney announced that he would not run for president in 2016, saying that while he thought he could win the nomination, "one of our next generation of Republican leaders" would be better positioned to win the general election.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/30/2016-scramble-former-romney-backers-strategist-shifting-to-bush/|title=Romney announces he will not run for president in 2016 |work=[[Fox News]] |date=January 30, 2015|access-date=January 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150130153813/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/30/2016-scramble-former-romney-backers-strategist-shifting-to-bush/ |first=Serafin |last=Gomez |archive-date=January 30, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/01/30/text-of-romneys-statement-on-decision-not-to-run-in-2016/ |access-date=February 6, 2020 |title=Text of Romney's Statement on Decision Not to Run in 2016 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=January 30, 2015}}</ref>