GOP CONGRESSMAN: Mitt Romney Is Going To Run In 2016, And He's Going To Win
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) told MSNBC's Chris Matthews that he thinks he "Draft Mitt" hype is real.
"I think he actually is going to run for president. He probably doesn't want me to say that," Chaffetz said during an interview on "Hardball" Monday night.
"A hundred times he says he's not, but Mitt Romney has always accomplished what he's set out to do. I think he's [been] proven right on a lot of stuff. I happen to be in the camp that thinks he's actually going to run, and I think he will be the next president of the United States."
Off and on since the debut of his Netflix documentary, "Mitt," speculation about a possible third Romney run has sprouted. Romney has taken an active role in supporting Republican candidates in this year's midterm elections, and he has steadily criticized the Obama administration recently - particularly on issues of foreign policy.
Last week, former Assistant Treasury Secretary Emil Henry made the case for a Romney run in 2016, and a recent Quinnipiac poll found 45% of respondents think the country would be better off if he had been elected president in 2012.
Despite the speculation outside Romney's circle, Romney himself has repeatedly brushed aside any notion he'll run in two years. When asked by The New York Times earlier this year about the possibility of another run, he repeated the word "no" 11 times.
Here's the clip of Chaffetz on "Hardball":