Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said on “Fox News Sunday” that new faces of the Republican Party have the potential to flourish now that former President Trump is out of office.
He named Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, and Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska as potential spokespeople.
“So there will be some new faces,” Mr. Romney said. “President Trump, of course, will continue to have influence, but I think our party is going to return to some of our more fundamental principles, which is fiscal responsibility, believing in the importance of character, standing with our allies and pushing back against people like Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin.”
On CNN, Mr. Romney also named former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas as potential leaders.
Mr. Romney said on Fox that Republicans need to do a better job communicating more effectively to working men and women in the country that their policies are best designed to help them and their families.
“That’s something I think we’ve missed, something I missed in my campaign,” said Mr. Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee. “I think that’s something that’s going to help define us going forward.”
Mr. Romney is currently on the outs with much of the GOP’s conservative base.
An early test of Mr. Trump’s influence came over the weekend when Kelli Ward, with the former president’s support, narrowly won a second term as chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party.
President Biden defeated Mr. Trump in Arizona last year to become the first Democratic presidential candidate since 1996 to carry the state.
Democrats now hold both U.S. Senate seats in Arizona for the first time in close to 70 years after Sen. Mark Kelly’s win last year.
