Ann Romney Praises Donald Trump 2016 Campaign For Driving Excitement About Politics

Ann Romney, the wife of 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, said Tuesday she thought real estate tycoon Donald Trump's candidacy in the 2016 race was "a good thing." Speaking with Yahoo! News' Katie Couric, Ann Romney commented that the buzz around Trump's run was inspiring more Americans than usual to follow politics, the Hill reported.

"Every cycle is so unique, and this one is maybe one of the most unique," Ann Romney said. "More people are listening. I think more people are becoming getting engaged. More people are paying attention than ever before. Maybe ... that, I would say, would be a good thing."

Ann Romney supported her husband during presidential campaigns in 2008, when he lost to Arizona Sen. John McCain for the Republican nomination, and 2012, when he faced off against President Barack Obama and captured 47 percent of the popular vote. But the former Massachusetts governor announced in January he would not run again for 2016 to "give other leaders in the party the opportunity," CNN reported.

Despite polarizing comments and lack of political background, Trump has emerged as the front-runner for the Republican primary. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday found that the mogul had the support of 21 percent of primary voters, just beating out neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 20 percent.

Ann Romney told Couric Tuesday that watching the race from afar was "quite entertaining" and refused to name her favorite candidate. But Mitt Romney has made his opinion on Trump known. In July, he criticized Trump's statements that McCain was not a hero for his time as a prisoner of war. Romney has also said Trump's characterization of Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals hurt the Republican Party.

“He's someone to whom civility means a lot. The whole Trump thing really bothers him,” an anonymous Mitt Romney adviser told New York Magazine.

In August, both halves of the Romney couple entered the Trump fray when Mitt Romney retweeted a message by his wife backing Fox News host Megyn Kelly. Trump argued Kelly purposefully asked him difficult questions at the first GOP debate, later adding that she had "blood coming out of her wherever."