Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney visited Mississippi State University Wednesday for a Global Lecture Series event.
Gov. Romney spoke about his views on foreign policy, terrorism and poverty.
Romney discussed many principles of the United States economy and said he believes the U.S. should work closely with Israel and treat Israel as an ally.
“Israel is our friend, and we should treat our friends better than we treat the people who are not our friends. We should stand with Israel in every way possible,” Romney said.
Romney also said he believes the U.S. should realize it still faces threats with ISIS and should do what needs to be done to eradicate the terrorist group.
“We should recognize what we face. The administration is not willing to recognize the threats. ISIS is a new category with resources and poses a substantial threat. We need to do whatever it takes to defeat them,” Romney said.
Romney also said he believes there are key ways to bring Americans out of poverty.
“I believe if we get people through safe schools with the best and brightest teachers and make people go out in the workplace and get jobs, we can help people get out of poverty,” he said. “I want more jobs for low and middle income families. I want to help the poor and the middle class. We should use our resources to help people out of poverty and put people to work.”
Romney said students may not remember everything they learned in college, but they will always remember the friends they made while they were there.
“The friends you make here, these you will remember for a lifetime. The real currency in life is the friendships you keep and the people you love. Hold on to your college friends; they last far longer than what you learn in class,” Romney said.
After Romney’s speech Rhonda Keenum, wife of MSU president Dr. Mark Keenum, presented Romney with an honorary cowbell.
Caleb Marshall, student at the Mississippi School for Math and Science, said he enjoyed Romney’s speech and would love for him to run for office.
“I enjoyed hearing him speak,” he said. “I thought there would be a lot of cat fighting but there wasn’t. I like the fact that he wants us to come together to end poverty and pave our own way. He wants to make a difference. I would love to see him run for president,” Marshall said.
Romney stated during his speech he will be attending various colleges in order to receive student feedback and student perspectives on global issues. He provided MSU students with insight into actions he feels the Republican party should exemplify in the next presidential election.Thus far, it has not been reported that Romney has confirmed a presidential election run in 2016.