On Friday’s broadcast of NBC’s “Today,” 2012 Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney made an appearance to promote the documentary “Mitt” that premiered last week’s Sundance Film Festival and is out on Netflix today.
In his discussion with “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, Romney weighed in on the controversy surrounding Chris Christie and the so-called “BridgeGate” scandal, which Romney seemed to indicate would be a positive for Christie’s future political ambitions.
“Yeah, I have been in touch with Chris and frankly I what I think you have seen is a guy who is a strong leader, he took responsibility, he fired people that were responsible for the scandal and he has moved on as a leader,” Romney said. “I do believe the American people want to see a strong leader in the White House and he is.”
Guthrie asked Romney if Christie’s strong-arm tactics were a cause for concern, to which Romney compared Christie to former President Lyndon Johnson that used tough tactics to get things done in Washington, D.C.
“Chris and I get along very well,” Romney added. “We’re close friends. And I watched a president known as LBJ push through civil rights legislation because he was a strong leader, knew how to make things happen. We’re watching right now a Washington that can’t get the job one. Chris does and I think that’s one of the reasons he is as popular as he is.”
As for Romney’s future political ambitions, he rejected the notion of ever running again and said there was a list others who should have their turn.
“This is a time for Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush, Mike Pence, John Kasich – a long list, Marco Rubio. There are a lot of folks that should have the chance to be our nominee and I’m going to support the one who gets the prize.”