Mitt Romney hasn’t officially declared himself a presidential candidate again, but the 2012 Republican nominee looked and sounded like one during a stop in Mississippi, back-slapping at a popular barbecue joint before delivering a speech that questions Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton’s foreign policy and economic credentials.
The speech at Mississippi State University marks Romney’s third public appearance since he shocked the political world earlier in the month by signaling interest in another presidential run.
In his comeback bid, Romney has focused particular attention on the poor and middle class as he tries to broaden his appeal.
“How can Secretary Clinton provide opportunity for all if she doesn’t know where jobs come from in the first place?” Romney says in excerpts of the speech obtained by The Associated Press.
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“Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cluelessly pressed a reset button for Russia, which smiled and then invaded Ukraine, a sovereign nation,” Romney says. “We need to help make the world a safer place.”
The university’s Student Government Association invited Romney before he’d talked of a 2016 campaign. Romney aides said he is donating his $50,000 speaking fee, minus his travel costs, to CharityVision, a Utah-based organization that offers eye care to the poor.
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Associated Press reporter Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report. Peoples and Kuhnhenn reported from Washington, D.C.
