Establishment-favorite Mitt Romney has been angling for the position of Secretary of State in the Trump administration.
He met twice with the President-elect, and many media outlets have reported he is one of the front runners for the job.
But Trump officials just gave the foreign policy establishment some really bad news.
Kellyanne Conway – President-elect Trump’s campaign manager – revealed in an interview with reporters in the lobby of the Trump Tower that the field of candidates for Secretary of State is expanding.
The Hill reports:
“President-elect Donald Trump is expanding his search for secretary of State, according to former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway.
“I think there’ll be additional interviews with other candidates for secretary of State and other Cabinet positions and deputy … positions as well,” Conway told pool reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower Sunday morning.
On Saturday, The Associated Press reported that former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) is under consideration to be the nation’s top diplomat.
Conway said Trump “continues to talk to different people.”
“It is true that he’s broadened the search, and the secretary of State is an incredibly important position for any president to fill and he has, he’s very fortunate, to have interest among serious men and women who, all of whom need to understand that their first responsibility as secretary of State would be to implement and adhere to the president-elect’s ‘America First’ foreign policy, if you will, his view of the world,” she said.”
Previous reports indicated the President-elect had narrowed his choices down to four candidates – Mitt Romney, Rudy Guiliani, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, and former General David Petreaus.
Many believed Romney was the leader of the pack.
But conservatives both inside and outside the Trump camp loudly opposed a possible Romney selection.
They noted that Romney was disloyal during the campaign.
He actively undermined Trump on behalf of the establishment and led the #NeverTrump movement by smearing the GOP standard bearer with outrageous personal slurs.
Others pointed out that Romney comes from the hawkish establishment wing which favors reckless foreign intervention and a more bellicose policy toward Russia.
President-elect Trump won the election on an “America First” foreign policy that rejects nation building and military adventurism overseas.
And even after Romney met with the President-elect for dinner in a second job interview and praised Trump to reporters afterwards, Romney’s lack of conservative convictions and disloyalty appears to be sinking his candidacy.
New candidates are now surfacing.
The Associated Press reports that former Utah Governor – and failed 2012 Presidential candidate – Jon Huntsman is under consideration for the job.
Conservatives are more intrigued by new reports that California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is the candidate for the job and being pushed by key members of the President-elect’s inner circle.
Congressman Rohrabacher endorsed Senator Rand Paul in the primary before supporting Trump.
He is known as a conservative with a solid 86% rating from the Heritage Action group.
Many liberty minded conservatives believe Rohrabacher would be the strongest choice to implement President-elect Trump’s “America First” foreign policy because he has always supported a traditionally conservative policy in overseas affairs.
Who do you think President-elect Trump should appoint as Secretary of State?
Let us know in the comment section.
