'My time has come and gone': Mitt Romney pushes back as Fox News host begs for 2016 run

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Sunday declared that his "time had come and gone," but Fox News Chris Wallace made the case for another White House bid.

During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Wallace suggested that Americans were having "buyers remorse" because a CNN poll found that Romney would defeat President Barack Obama if the 2012 election had been held in July of 2014.

Romney pointed out that the way voters currently felt about him was "irrelevant."

"The real question is, how is the president doing?" he opined. "You know, I don't whether you can't see reality from a fairway, but the president has not seen the reality internationally. And then domestically, we've got, what, 92 million people that have stopped looking for work that are out of work in this country?"

"I am sure that a bunch of people watching right now are thinking, 'Gee, where was that guy, why wasn't he making all of those points in 2012?'" Wallace said, noting that Romney had made a number of mistakes that led to his defeat.

"Let me look to the future," the Fox News host continued. "Because voters seem willing to give you another chance."

As evidence, Wallace presented a USA Today survey of Iowa voters that showed Romney with at least a 26 point lead over all other Republicans in the 2016 field.

"When asked about running again, you gave a whole lot of reasons why not, but you also said, circumstances can change," Wallace asserted.

"I don't really have anything new to add, Chris," Romney replied. "I'm not running, and I'm not planning on running. I'm going to be supporting our nominee."

Wallace, however, was not satisfied: "But are you making a [General] Shermanesque comment, absolutely will not run; if nominated, will not serve? Or are there circumstances under which you would consider running again?"

Romney insisted that he was "not going to add to the story."

"Look, there's no question in my mind that I think I would have been a better president that Barack Obama," the former candidate argued. "I wish it were me. It was a great experience running for president, but my time has come and gone."

"Do you think you would make a better president that Hillary Clinton?" Wallace pressed.

"No question about that in my mind," Romney concluded.

Watch the video below from Fox News' Fox News Sunday, broadcast Sept. 7, 2014.