No Coronation For Mitt Romney This Weekend-- Remember "Dishonesty Is Donald Trump's Hallmark"

Going into the Utah Republican convention of Saturday, Romney had already qualified for the GOP primary ballot through signatures, Most political insiders were positive he would get the 60% needed to avoid a primary. Not quite. He didn't even come in first! State Rep Mike Kennedy, a Republican from Alpine who has served in the Legislature since 2013 edged him forcing a June 26 primary.

The Boston Globe, Romney's hometown paper, reported that Romney "has worked to keep the focus on state issues rather than his history of well-documented feuds with Trump, whom he called a 'con-man' and a phony during the 2016 race. Trump fired back that Romney 'choked like a dog' during his own White House run. But the two men have shown fresh signs of burying the hatchet, and Romney has accepted Trump’s endorsement."

Just minutes before he was handed his defeat, CNN reported that Romney was unwilling to commit to supporting the Trumpanzee reelection campaign.

"I will make that decision down the road," Romney, who is running for US Senate, said in an interview with CNN as he waited for his turn to speak at the Utah GOP convention where he was vying for his party's nomination. "As a person of political experience, if I endorse someone, I'll want to know what's in it for Utah and what help would he provide for us on key priorities in Utah."

"So I'm not a cheap date," he said.

Romney said he assumed there would be Republican contenders who will challenge Trump, but underscored, "I also assume that President Trump will be the nominee of our party in 2020."

As he has campaigned across Utah, Romney has pointed out that he largely agrees with Trump on policy but takes issue with some of his harsh rhetoric.

But he was a fierce critic of Trump during the primary phase of the 2016 presidential race, calling him out as an imposter and criticizing his harsh tone on immigrants from Mexico, and criticizing Trump's crude comments about women.

Utah was unfriendly territory for Trump in 2016, although he did win. He took 515,231 votes (45.5%) to Hillary's 310,676 (27.5%) and Evan McMullin's 243,690 (21.5%). Clinton beat Trump substantially in Salt Lake County (42% to 33%, with McMullin pulling 19%).