Romney: Trump has right to legally challenge results, should tone down rhetoric

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney says that US President Donald Trump is within his rights to pursue recounts and legal challenges in close races that decided last week’s election but urges Trump to dial back his rhetoric.

Romney tells NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he thinks it’s unlikely that a recount or legal challenges will change the outcome and suggested Trump “be careful in the choice of words.”

The Republican senator, who has been a frequent critic of Trump’s, says when a president says an “election was ‘corrupt’ or ‘stolen’ or ‘rigged,’ that that’s unfortunately rhetoric that gets picked up by authoritarians around the world.”

Romney, who was the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee, added that Trump’s language also “discourages confidence in our democratic process here at home.”

— AP