Did Sen. Mitt Romney threaten to leave the Republican Party and join the Democrats? No, that's not true: The Utah senator's spokesperson told Lead Stories there was "zero truth" to the claim. Romney filed paperwork in July 2023 that would allow him to seek re-election to the U.S. Senate as a Republican.
The claim appeared in a post published on Twitter on July 25, 2023, (archived here) which opened:
Senator #MittRomney Threatens to Leave Republican Party and Join Democrats https://t.co/laex9XuoWm
This is what the post looked like on Twitter at the time of writing:
(Source: Twitter screenshot taken on Mon Jul 31 17:09:20 2023 UTC)
"There is zero truth to misinformation spread by online bots," Paige Waltz, Romney's spokesperson, told Lead Stories via email on July 31, 2023. While Romney has been critical of former President Donald Trump, there is no evidence at the time of this writing that he is planning to switch parties.
The tweet did not elaborate beyond claiming Romney "threatens to leave Republican Party," and it cited no source or other substantiation for the claim.
Romney filed "Statement of Candidacy" paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in April 2023 and again on July 14, 2023, that said "Office Sought: Senate," and "Republican Party."
