Mitt Romney was one of President-elect Donald Trump's fiercest opponents among Republicans during the primary election, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, both key advisers and surrogates for Trump, said Wednesday they are concerned about naming the former 2012 GOP nominee as secretary of state.
"Gov. Romney wanted to be president, not secretary of state, and you have to ask the question: When he goes overseas, is he going to be the secretary of state for President Trump, or is he going to be Mitt Romney's own secretary of state?" Gingrich told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program.
Over the past year, Romney fiercely condemned Trump's campaign, but after the New York businessman won the election, he tweeted to congratulate him.
On Saturday, the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP nominee met with Trump at his New Jersey golf resort, but did not comment on any discussions concerning positions in the incoming presidential administration.
"If President-elect Trump picks Romney, he can make the case that this proves he's going to unify," said Gingrich. "If he also gets one or two Democrats to join the Cabinet, the steps towards making him a national unity president, which is what he wants to do. I think that's the tone of his interview yesterday at The New York Times, so you can make that case."
Gingrich said when he met with Trump in New York on Monday, they had a "very good meeting" and he believes there is the opportunity to "really put together a Republican government in a way that rivals what Franklin D. Roosevelt did in the 1930s."
Romney, according to The Wall Street Journal, is the leading candidate for secretary of state. However, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump's closest advisers, is also in the running for the key Cabinet post.
Trump and Romney butted heads often during the election. Romney called Trump a "phony" and a "fraud" during a speech in March, while Trump often called Romney a "failed candidate" for his 2012 election loss to incumbent President Barack Obama.
However, on Wednesday, news broke that Trump had tagged South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who had often criticized him during his campaign, as his choice for U.S. Ambassador to the UN.
Huckabee, appearing earlier on the program, said Romney savaged Trump, and it would be a "real insult" to the president-elect's supporters if Romney would get the nomination.
But there is one way for Romney to clear his record, said Huckabee, and that would be to issue a public apology on "a microphone in a very public place and repudiate everything he said in that famous Salt Lake City speech and everything he said after that.
"Where he said Donald Trump wasn't fit, that he lacked character. I mean on and on. That's beyond just the normal political infighting that we all experience."
Huckabee said he was also surprised by Trump choosing Haley, following her criticism.
"Who you appoint to positions, whether your policy or not, that's going to be their policy at some point coming through," said Huckabee. "You either have somebody who learns to get loyal quickly or somebody who is going to be a distraction."
Huckabee told the program he was "offered a Cabinet slot," but he turned it down as he didn't think it would be a "great fit."
"I didn't do anything I did for Donald Trump because I was elbowing for a government job," said Huckabee. "I'm at a point in my life where I'm quite satisfied with not being in a government job. If he tabbed me for something and really convinced me he wanted to turn me loose and do some reforms, you got to consider that."
But, he said he doesn't even like Washington.
"I take shots every time I go," he told the program. "I feel like I don't want to be infected with whatever it is going on up there."