Mitt Romney meets with leader of third-party effort

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What Does Mitt Romney Know About a #NeverTrump Alternative?
What Does Mitt Romney Know About a #NeverTrump Alternative?

Mitt Romney, 2012 GOP presidential candidate and outspoken critic of Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump, had a meeting with William Kristol, who is pushing for a third party candidate.

William Kristol — editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine — is on a mission to make #nevertrump a reality with an independent candidate.

"I'm not with Trump, and I'm not with her. So I'm looking for an independent candidate," Kristol told CNN's Jake Tapper.

SEE ALSO: Trump campaign spokeswoman slams Paul Ryan: 'They want to lecture us on fiscal responsibility?'

And he seems to have set his sights on the former Massachusetts Governor. Which may seem a little weird since Romney said he's not interested in running for president this election.

"There are no circumstances, I can foresee, where that could possibly happen. ... I'm not running for president, and I won't run for president," Romney told Matt Lauer on the "Today" show.

But The Washington Post reports Thursday that Kristol met with Romney in Washington, D.C., to discuss the possibility of an independent campaign with him or at least to get his support for the idea if Kristol finds someone else willing to run.

Romney recently stated that he does not plan to vote for Trump or the Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Kristol thinks it's important to have Romney's backing, whether the 2012 nominee wants to run or not. At an awards ceremony later that night, Romney was asked about possibly running as an independent, but surprise — he said he still wasn't interested.

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