Chaffetz: Romney Called Me For Advice, ‘He Really Does Want to Become President’

Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) reported that Mitt Romney called him for “some advice and some perspective” about running for president in 2016 and that Romney “really does want to become president” in an interview broadcast on Monday’s “Kelly File” on the Fox News Channel.

Chaffetz said Romney “wanted some advice and some perspective. I hope he does it. I think he offers something that others don’t. He’s going to have to change his tactics. I think over the next 120 days he’s going to have to explain to people how things are going to be different because Republicans want to back a winner, we can’t lose the White House again. And I think he’s the right person at the right time. He’s well vetted, he was right on the issues, he can raise the billion dollars that it’s going to take. And I want to win, and so does Mitt.”

After host Megyn Kelly pointed out that Romney was “vetted and then rejected,” Chaffetz responded “Mitt Romney’s going to have to do something different in order to compel people and show that compassion that I see with inside him. But he was prophetic on, really, foreign policy, and he was mocked by Barack Obama. I think the public has buyer’s remorse. I think they know Mitt was right and Barack Obama was wrong. And on jobs and the economy, which is still going to be a top tier issue, there’s nobody better than Mitt Romney.”

Chaffetz added that his discussion with Romney was “just after Christmas, it was just last week, and he was saying ‘Look, I’m really thinking about it.’ And I think he really does want to become the President of the United States.” And “I don’t see anybody in the current field, who’s really stepping up to the mantle and doing those three things that I talked about, being well vetted, being right on the issues, and being able to raise a billion dollars.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett