Posted on 03/03/2016 6:02:11 AM PST by Enlightened1
Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is charging into the increasingly divisive White House race with a verbal lashing of Donald Trump and a plea for fellow Republicans to shun the front-runner for the good of country and party.
Romney is branding the billionaire businessman as "a phony, a fraud" whose "promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University," according to a speech Romney planned to give at the University of Utah on Thursday morning. The Associated Press obtained excerpts of his remarks in advance.
Trump, in turn, dismissed Romney as "a stiff" who "didn't know what he was doing" as the party's candidate in 2012 and blew a chance to beat President Barack Obama. "People are energized by what I'm saying" in the campaign and turning out in remarkable numbers to vote, Trump told NBC's "Today."
In ratcheting up the rhetoric, Romney cast his lot with a growing chorus of anxious Republican leaders -- people many Trump supporters view as establishment figures -- in trying to slow the New York real estate mogul's momentum.
"Here's what I know: Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud," the former Massachusetts governor said, according to the early excerpts.
But it was unclear what impact his words would have with voters deeply frustrated by their party's leaders. Trump questioned whether the party rank and file would listen to "a failed candidate" for whom "nobody came out to vote."
Romney has been chipping away at Trump in recent days, but the speech Thursday was certain to be his most forceful statement yet.
Panicked GOP leaders say they still have options for preventing Trump from winning the GOP nomination -- just not many good ones.
(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...
Romney will be praising Cruz and Rubio in the speech per Fox News. What a weasel. He will attack Trump so Trump attacked Romney on Today Show.
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I voted for Romney in 2012 - he was (is) not a conservative but I thought this country would not survive “0” for another 4 years. But a two time loser bashing the Republican front runner is beneath contempt. Romney is a despicable narcissist. I support Cruz, but if Trump wins the nomination, I will fully support him.
Romney saved his venom for his GOP opponents in 2012, and was ever so gracious to The Usurper, ensuring his re-election. It was Romney’s minions in 2008 who ruthlessly strangled Sarah Palin’s political career on Election Day 2008. I’ll forgive him for neither. His time is done.
Romney is lying again. McCain was not tortured. He even embraced his former captors later. And he sure treated harsly he families of those MIA. It is on YouTube.
romney is coming across as bitter and nasty. A disgusting person.
Man are they tone deaf to think anyone but the beltway and a handpicked audience in SLC care what Romney has to say
The big question is whether Hillary Clinton and her cohorts are as unrealistic as the GOP-e and the neo-conservatives. My guess is that they are not.
Who dug up Mittens?
A corporate raider accusing Trump of crushing small business’s and laying off people. That’s rich.
Donald Trump needs to tell Fox News he is not attending their debate tonight unless Romney shows up as it appears he is declaring himself a candidate.
I agree.
‘I was never a big Trump fan (but I didn’t hate him like so many) but he seems to be making all the right enemies.’
Exactly.
Primaries are about deception. It has a thick ‘fog of war’. When a general does not know what to do, he has two choices: approach the sound of gunfire or avoid it. When in doubt, a good general approaches the sound. That’s where the battle is.
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