Mitt Romney on the purpose of life: the exit interview

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

69% : Years later, in 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court extended recognition of same-sex marriages nationwide through the 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, Romney supported the Respect for Marriage Act.
62% : My faith is the faith of my fathers -- I will be true to them and to my beliefs.
60% : What's the purpose of your life?""The purpose of my life is to make Ann happy and to raise a great family, to help build The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to preserve the union and freedom.
59% : "The Republican Party really is shaped by Donald Trump now and you'll find the House and the Senate members, the Republican Party, pretty much following what he puts out there," he said.
56% : Romney answered, according to Tuohy, "'We as a nation are founded as a nation of religious liberty and tolerance.
54% : "The Supreme Court had said that same-sex marriage is required by the Constitution, and that being said, if we're going to have same-sex marriage, I wanted to make sure we had protections for religious liberty.
53% : The legislation codified the recognition of same-sex marriages at the federal level and also included religious liberty protections, put in place through an amendment sponsored by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
51% : When it became clear Trump could win the Republican nomination, Romney decided he had to step up and say something.
46% : He encouraged GOP voters -- almost pleading with them -- to choose someone, anyone but Trump.
46% : "Biden also quoted the poem during his last speech at the United Nations, but he quoted a different line: "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world ... ."
43% : There are probably a few that I don't, but overwhelmingly, we're on the same page," he said at the press conference, pointing to Trump's position on immigration and his stated desire to cut federal spending.
43% : So I agree with a lot of what President Trump will do," he said.
41% : A couple of months ago, while speaking at the University of Utah, Romney reiterated he wouldn't vote for Trump, but said he also didn't want to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris because he wanted to play a role in the future of the GOP.
38% : "In November 2003, when Romney was governor of Massachusetts, the state's Supreme Judicial Court said same-sex couples had a right to marry.
35% : After the state Supreme Court released its decision, Romney asked the state Legislature to amend the Massachusetts Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, but ultimately the court's decision stood.
33% : Ahead of the 2024 election, Romney spoke up again, asking Republican candidates to coalesce around a single opponent to Trump.
32% : Romney voted to impeach Trump again after the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol, along with six other Republican senators.
31% : In February 2020, Romney was the only Republican to vote to impeach Trump.
27% : "I have to tell you, I agree with President Trump on most policy issues.
19% : But Romney did not think Trump should be president, arguing he did not have the character a president should have.
16% : Romney voted to impeach Trump twice and spoke out against him regularly.
16% : He gave a scathing speech about Trump, again at the University of Utah, calling him a "phony, a fraud."
15% : Trump endorsed Romney in his 2012 campaign, and Romney told McKay Coppins, who wrote a biography about Romney, he spoke to Trump occasionally in the years following.
14% : It was the first state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage, and it created a dilemma for Romney, who expressed his opposition to same-sex marriage while supporting civil unions.
12% : Romney said the areas he had "difficulty" with Trump were issues like his alleged sexual assault, which Trump was found liable for, and his "relaxed relationship with the truth."
7% : Trump responded by launching a series of attacks on Romney, and the two have sparred publicly ever since, including after Romney voted to impeach him.

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