Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellMomentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Trump expects to nominate woman to replace Ginsburg next week Video of Lindsey Graham arguing against nominating a Supreme Court justice in an election year goes viral MORE (R-Ky.) said that President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE should back Mitt Romney Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyMomentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Toobin: McConnell engaging in 'greatest act of hypocrisy in American political history' with Ginsburg replacement vote The Memo: Court battle explodes across tense election landscape MORE's Senate bid, saying that the former presidential candidate bolsters the GOP's prospects of holding onto the seat currently held by Sen. Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant HatchBottom line Bottom line Senate GOP divided over whether they'd fill Supreme Court vacancy MORE (R-Utah).

"We don’t want to lose the seat, and this looks like a pretty formidable candidate," McConnell told The New York Times in an interview on Friday.

Asked whether Trump is comfortable with Romney's Senate bid, McConnell replied: "I can't imagine that he's not."

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After months of speculation, Romney announced this week that he would run to succeed Hatch, the longest-serving Republican currently in the Senate. Hatch, 83, said last month that he would not seek an eighth term in office.

The White House had pressed Hatch to run for reelection in 2018, largely in hopes of deterring Romney from seeking the Senate seat, according to the Times.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who challenged former President Obama for the White House in 2012, has been a vocal critic of Trump. Speaking at a GOP dinner in Provo, Utah, on Friday, Romney vowed to break from Trump when he believes it is necessary.

"I’m not always with the president on what he might say or do, and if that happens, I’ll call them like I see them, the way I have in the past," Romney said, according to the Times. He did, however, mention that he supports much of Trump's domestic agenda.

McConnell told the Times on Friday that Romney would enter the Senate with a profile similar to the one Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonJeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Momentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Warning signs flash for Lindsey Graham in South Carolina MORE had when she ran successfully for Senate in 2000.

"The best way to think about that, and I told [Romney] this a couple of months ago, I said: ‘You’ll be a freshman like Hillary Clinton was,’ ” McConnell said. “He will come in here with a level of national identity and respect that will make him effective from Day 1.”