In a surprise turn of events, two-time presidential candidate Mitt Romney told about 30 supporters on Friday that he is seriously considering a third run for the White House in 2016.
Romney made the comments during a closed-door meeting in the New York offices of Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets, where a group of financial executives and former campaign contributors listened to the former Massachusetts governor talk about how the current state of foreign affairs and economic issues bother him, reported The Wall Street Journal.
One person in the room told The Associated Press under the condition of anonymity that Romney advised his supporters that they should tell their friends that a Romney 2016 campaign is under serious consideration.
Romney acknowledged that he needs to soon decide for certain whether he will run, and said that his decision would not have anything to do with current candidates being good or bad. However, some sources close to Romney have said that even with the addition of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to the candidate field, Romney still remains unsatisfied with the Republican potentials, the WSJ reported.
Despite repeatedly insisting that he has no intention of running in 2016, Romney has consistently led public opinion polls as the most favored Republican presidential contender.
"I'm not running, I'm not planning on running, and I've got nothing new on that story," Romney told Bloomberg TV in an October interview.
"Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no," he told The New York Times earlier in 2014.
The first primary contests for the 2016 race are still roughly a year away, and while no one has formally announced their candidacy, at least a dozen have said they are at least considering a bid.
Bush, expected to be Romney's toughest competition, has spent the past few weeks "actively exploring" a bid, and seemingly preparing for an official announcement by cutting ties from organizations that could prove detrimental to his candidacy, courting to potential donors, launching a PAC and considering top talent to staff a campaign, AP reported.
