Mitt Romney says he voted for his wife for president in 2016.

Romney, a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Utah, told the Deseret News on Wednesday that he cast a write-in vote for Ann Romney even though he knew the choice wouldn’t go anywhere.

Still, he said in an interview with the newspaper’s editorial board that he thinks she would make an excellent president.

Mitt Romney blasted then-candidate Donald Trump as a “phony” and a “fraud” during the 2016 campaign but also said he wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton.

Romney was the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

The former Massachusetts governor is facing Utah state lawmaker Mike Kennedy in the Republican primary for the seat being vacated by Sen. Orrin Hatch after more than 40 years.

Kennedy has said he cast a write-in vote for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, though he’s since become a Trump supporter and questioned Romney’s criticism of the president.

(AP)