Ted Turner: Romney Would Make Good President

Mitt Romney “would probably make a good president,” liberal icon Ted Turner says in an appearance on the network that fired him on Thursday night.

Making an appearance on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight,” the station’s founder refused to endorse either Romney or President Barack Obama, but says that he has no problems with the GOP’s presumptive candidate.

“He’s a real gentleman,” he says according to a partial transcript released by the show. “I think he’s been very successful. I think he’s really smart. And I don’t agree with everything that he believes, but I agree with a lot of it. And I think that he’d probably make a good president.”

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Turner created CNN in 1980, but after it merged with Time Warner he was gradually eased out of power before finally resigning from the board in 2006. He said he wanted the station to be “The New York Times” of cable news, as opposed to others which could be more like the New York Daily News.

“That doesn't mean you don't cover Hollywood and don't cover kidnappings and the sensational, too, but the emphasis should be on hard news.

“I thought that for the long-term, that would be the best position to be in, even if the ratings weren't the greatest,” Turner added. “If you had the most prestige, and you were the network that everybody turned to in times of a crisis, that was the most important position, in the news business, to hold.”

Turner, who said he was worth more than $7 billion at his peak, admitted that he has never gotten over third wife Jane Fonda. “When you love somebody and you really love them, you never stop loving them, no matter how hard you try. You can’t and there’s nothing wrong with that.

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“I lost Jane. I lost my job here. I lost my fortune, most of it,” he added. “I have a billion or two left — you can get by on that if you economize.”

Turner wasn’t the only A-list guest due to appear with Morgan on Thursday. Former President George W. Bush also made a rare appearance, In the Keeping America Great segment.