Mitt Romney warns against unnamed 'demagogues' in commencement speech

Mitt Romney warns against &quot;demagogues&quot;

(Image credit: CNN/YouTube)

last updated 9 May 2016

On Saturday, Mitt Romney gave the commencement speech at Trine University in Angola, Indiana, and he only touched on politics briefly. "Demagogues on the right and the left draw upon our darker angels, scapegoating immigrants and Muslims or bankers and business people," Romney said, in a pretty clear reference to Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Romney, a leading Republican critic of Trump, has announced he won't attend this year's Republican National Convention, an unusual move by a party's most recent nominee.

Romney mostly focused on life advice, warning the Trine grads: "Profiteers tempt and endeavor to hook us with compulsive addictions. Entertainment media distracts us from the things that bring enduring achievements and happiness. Think carefully about the habits of your life — you deserve to be happy, and America deserves your white choice— your right choices." Watch Romney dish out advice, and recover admirably from that uncomfortable final gaffe, in the CNN video below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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