Outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he believes Vice President-elect JD Vance will be the GOP’s 2028 presidential nominee, describing Vance as “smart” and “well-spoken.”

President-elect Donald Trump named Vance as his running mate for the 2024 presidential election, and the two defeated the Democratic nomination consisting of Vice President Kamala Harris and her candidate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Romney, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said the GOP has “become the party of working and middle-class voters,” adding that Trump deserves credit.

TRUMP ENEMY MITT ROMNEY RESISTS HARRIS’S SUPPORT

Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, arrives for a Senate Republican session at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on February 8, 2024 (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The senator noted that movements aimed at defunding the police and allowing biological men in women’s sports led to some middle-class exodus from the Democratic Party, which he said was “in trouble.”

“I don’t know how they recover,” he said. “They lost their base,” he said, pointing out that union members left the Democratic Party and voted for the Republican Party. “And the Democratic Party is viewed not as rich people, but as college professors and woke scolds,” he said.

During an interview with Romney, CNN’s Jake Tapper said, “Trump has made it clear that he wants to take action against his political opponents” and asked Romney if he feared that he or his family could be targeted for “retaliation.”

MITT ROMNEY DEFENDS TRUMP’S BORDER SECURITY POLICY, BEATS BIDEN IN HOT EXCHANGE WITH MSNBC HOST

Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a listening session about youth vaping of electronic cigarettes in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 22, 2019 (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Romney indicated that he wasn’t worried and that he believed Trump would likely try to “focus on the future.”

Romney had been a senator since 2019 but decided not to seek another term.

He had previously been the GOP presidential nominee in 2012, but lost that election to incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama.

Romney was also previously governor of Massachusetts.

ROMNEY ANNOUNCES HE WILL NOT SEEK FOR RE-ELECTION IN 2024, GUYS TRUMP AND BIDEN

Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, answers questions in his office after announcing he will not seek re-election on September 13, 2023 in Washington, DC (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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When Tapper asked Romney how he would like to be remembered by history, the senator said he didn’t think “history will remember Mitt Romney.”

“I want my family to remember me,” he noted.