Before President Joe Biden announced on Sunday he was dropping out of the presidential race, The New York Times published an op-ed by Aaron Sorkin, Hollywood writer and creator of “The West Wing,” where he called on Democrats to pick Sen. Mitt Romney as a replacement for Biden.
After calling on Biden to drop out, Sorkin said, “The problem in the real world is that there isn’t a Democrat who is polling significantly better than Mr. Biden. And quitting, as heroic as it may be in this case, doesn’t really put a lump in our throats.”
“But there’s something the Democrats can do that would not just put a lump in people’s throats with its appeal to stop-Donald-Trump-at-all-costs unity, but with its originality and sense of sacrifice. So here’s my pitch to the writers’ room: The Democratic Party should pick a Republican.
“At their convention next month, the Democrats should nominate Mitt Romney,” he said.
Never mind that Romney is not a Democrat, or that he holds conservative policy views on issues like abortion, entitlement reform, taxes and labor unions, Sorkin said.
His selling point, Sorkin said, is that Romney could beat former President Donald Trump.
“The Democrats need to break the glass and this is a break-glass plan, but it’s more than that. It’s a grand gesture. A sacrifice. It would put a lump in our throats,” he wrote. “But mostly, it would be the end of Donald Trump in presidential politics.”
Romney did not respond to a request for comment on Sorkin’s suggestion.
Sorkin walks Romney endorsement back
Just a few hours after Sorkin’s piece was published, he walked back his suggestion and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace Biden.
Sorkin is not on social media, so he sent a message to former “West Wing” star Josh Malina, saying, “I need to borrow your Twitter account again.”
“I take it all back. Harris for America!”
Entertainment news outlet TheWrap said it had verified with Malina the statement was real.