In a rare moment of comity in a pitched battle for control of the White House, President Obama called former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Wednesday to congratulate him on securing the Republican presidential nomination.
“President Obama said he looked forward to an important and healthy debate about America’s future and wished Governor Romney and his family well throughout the upcoming campaign,” the Obama campaign said in a statement.
Mr. Romney wrapped up his party’s nomination Tuesday night after Texas Republican primary gave him the required number of delegates to win the nomination. All of Mr. Romney’s main rivals had dropped out of the race over the last few months.
The president has previously said the two are not friends, and although the already intense election is expected to grow increasingly negative and nasty as November draws closer, the White House said Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney had a “very good conversation” Wednesday.
“He congratulated him on winning the nomination — he knows how difficult a process that is having gone through it in 2008 — also a fairly prolonged primary season,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. “[He] said he looked forward to the debate in the fall.”
