Ted Turner: Romney 'a real gentleman,' would 'probably make a good president'

CNN founder Ted Turner offered warm praise for likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, although the media mogul stopped short of a formal endorsement in an interview slated to air Thursday night.

"I could say about Mitt Romney I think he’s a real gentleman. 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," Turner told CNN's Piers Morgan, according to excerpts provided by the network.

Turner prefaced his comments by saying that he "didn't know" who would ultimately prevail and was reticent to formally endorse any candidate.

"When I started CNN, I made the decision to stay of [out of] endorsing candidates and let the viewers make up their own minds about politics, that it wasn’t going to come from me. The other networks were all telling everybody what to do.  But I wanted to be different and let people make up their own minds," Turner said.

Pressed by host Piers Morgan if he would be breaking his precedent with Romney, Turner clarified, "I’m not endorsing him."

If Turner does back Romney this election, that could mean a loss of a key fundraiser for the Obama campaign. Turner personally donated nearly $30,000 to the president's primary campaign in 2008, according to federal election records.

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