Romney looks to pivot back to the economy in Las Vegas ahead of Trump fundraiser

Mitt Romney looked to pivot back to economic issues ahead of his highly anticipated fundraiser with Donald Trump Tuesday, campaigning in swing-state Nevada and continuing to hammer the president on his economic policies.

"It's entirely possible that late in the evening of Nov. 6, the nation is going to be wondering what's going to happen in Nevada," Romney told a Las Vegas audience.

As with other campaign stops this month, Romney appeared with a top Republican thought to be on the presumptive nominee's short list for potential running mates. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) introduced Romney as "the right person at the right time."

"Nevada is on the move but America can do better," Sandoval said, arguing that many have "had to put our dreams on hold" under Obama administration policies.

Romney went on to rail against the president, arguing that President Obama's tax policies and regulations slowed job growth.

"Sometimes I just don't think he understands what it means to help people," Romney said.

The former Massachusetts governor also relayed an anecdote from earlier on the campaign trail, where one supporter said that in addition to the age and residency requirements for a presidential candidate, he should be required to have worked at least three years in business.

The quip was intended to emphasize Romney's credentials as a businessman, but mostly brought to mind the brewing controversy over comments made by prominent Romney surrogate Donald Trump. Over multiple interviews Tuesday, Trump continued to advance his skepticism about whether the president was born in the United States — to the chagrin of some conservatives.

In a testy exchange with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Trump denounced criticism of his "birthed" theories as "dishonest" and claimed that "a lot of people do not think it was an authentic certificate."

"Obama does not like the issue of where he was born. His own publisher, as you know, using his words, said he was born in Kenya and he lived in Indonesia. Of course, now he's denying that, amazingly," Trump said.

The Romney campaign issued a statement earlier Tuesday distancing the campaign from Trump's remarks and insisting Romney believed Obama had been born in the United States, but the Obama camp blasted the Republican candidate's "continued embrace" of Trump as showing a "lack of moral leadership."

After Romney's public rally, he headed to the fundraiser with Trump where he is expected to net some $2 million for his campaign.

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