Speaking to Barack Obama’s tenure in office today, Mitt Romney said “It’s been a good deal worse than even I expected. I was not a big fan of the president’s policies, as you know, either domestically or internationally. But the results of his mistakes and errors, in my opinion, have been more severe than even I would have predicted.”
On the stump with fellow Republicans in West Virginia, Romney cited “unrest in the Ukraine, the rise of the Islamic State terrorist group and stubborn economic woes in the United States” as specific points of criticism.
“I think he underestimated the plans and objectives of [President] Vladimir Putin in Russia. I think he made mistakes in Iraq by not putting in place a status of force agreement. And a number of things where I think he was in the wrong posture,” he said.
Mr. Romney has been aggressively campaigning for Republican candidates in the midterm elections, stirring speculation that he will again run for president in 2016. He insists, however, that he will not run again and that his goal is only to boost the party.
“I’m not running,” he said. “I’m expecting to be getting behind some good people or a good person who will be [the Republican nominee].”