Aides to Donald Trump have discussed asking former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to publicly apologize for insulting the president-elect in order to pave the way for a nomination to lead the State Department.
A Trump transition aide confirmed to DailyMail.com on Friday that there have been 'discussions' inside Trump Tower about the possibility. The source wouldn't say if Trump himself is aware of those discussions or has given them his blessing.
Romney famously tore into Trump in March, telling a Utah audience that the New York billionaire was 'a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He's playing members of the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat.'
But eight months after the former Massachusetts governor said that 'dishonesty is Donald Trump's hallmark' and mocked his 'bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third-grade theatrics,' Trump is reportedly considering making him America's top diplomat.
Former Trump campaign rival Mike Huckabee said Wednesday that if Trump chooses Romney as his secretary of state, it will send the wrong message to voters who elected him – but Romney would still have to fall on his sword first
Choosing Romney could leave Trump open to sniping from conservatives who are eager to see a Republican administration chock full of right-wing political bomb-throwers in the mold of the president-elect's campaign speeches.
But Trump has sent signals that he's interested in showing the world a softer face, even at the risk of alienating some of his most zealous backers.
One way to resolve that tension would be a public mea culpa to smooth the waters with Trump loyalists who want to see a more charismatic hard-liner – like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani or former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich – win the post.
Citing a Trump transition official, Fox News Channel correspondent Ed Henry said Thursday that 'there has been a conversation going on in private, very quiet of course, about whether or not Mitt Romney should issue some sort of formal or informal apology to President-elect Donald Trump.'
'Does he write a letter? Does he put out a statement of some kind?' Henry mused.
Former Trump campaign rival Mike Huckabee raised the idea of Romney in sackcloth and ashes on Wednesday, telling a Fox news audience that 'there is only one way that I think Mitt Romney could even be considered for a post like' secretary of state.
'And that is that he goes to a microphone in a very public place and repudiates everything he said in that famous Salt Lake City speech. And everything he said after that, where he said Donald Trump wasn't fit, that he lacked character – I mean, on and on.'
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