President Donald Trump would rather have Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who went to elementary school back when children wrote on papyrus using fossil bones, than have former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney take over his seat.
According to Politico, Trump is reportedly courting the 83-year-old seven-term senator to run one more time to block Romney, who announced that he was considering a 2018 run for Senate.
Sources close to Romney, who has been vocal and critical of the president, believe that Trump is trying to keep Romney out of the Senate. Romney has also become increasingly annoyed with Hatch’s indecision on whether or not he will run in 2018, sources told Politico.
“The former Massachusetts governor ripped the president in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, Va., in August, after Trump said that ‘many sides’ had taken part in the violence. Romney said Trump’s response ‘caused racists to rejoice’ and ‘minorities to weep,’” The Hill reports.
“I think he could be a great ally of the president, but as you well know, they’re very different people and have very different personalities,” Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes told Politico, adding that Hatch “understands the president very well.”