Trump Fires Back At Romney: ‘Failed Candidate’ Would Have ‘Dropped To His Knees’ For Me In 2012
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump responded to Mitt Romney on Thursday. Romney had given a hard-hitting speech heavily criticizing Trump earlier in the day, calling him a “phony,” a “fraud” and a con man.
“Here’s what I know. Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud,” Romney was quoted as saying by Raw Story, urging primary voters in states that have not yet chosen a nominee to vote for Trump’s opponents. “He’s playing the members of the American public for suckers. He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat,” he continued.
Romney also claimed that Trump’s economic policy would plunge the United States into a prolonged recession, criticized his refusal to release his tax returns to the public, and cited Trump’s reluctance to disavow an endorsement by David Duke, former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
“I don’t know what happened to him,” Trump said during an event in Portland, Maine, according to another report Raw Story. “You can see how loyal he is. He was begging for my endorsement. I could have said Mitt ‘drop to your knees.’ He would have dropped to his knees.”
Trump also described Romney as a “failed candidate,” and told NBC’s Today program that Romney was a “stiff” who “will not get elected,” criticizing him for losing the 2012 election to President Barack Obama.
Romney’s comments are one the clearest manifestations of an attempt by the party establishment to keep the outspoken New York billionaire from getting the Republican nomination. In his speech, he warned Republican voters that Trump would likely lose to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton if he becomes the Republican nominee.
CBC News characterized the rising tension and tenuous relationship between Trump and the mainstream GOP leadership.
“Trump’s rise has split the Republican Party between mainstream figures like Romney, and Trump supporters who complain the party does not reflect their concerns about illegal immigration, the slow economic recovery and what they see as America’s diminishing role in the world.”
Both Trump and Romney took to Twitter to express their growing war of words.
Why did Mitt Romney BEG me for my endorsement four years ago?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2016
If Trump had said 4 years ago the things he says today about the KKK, Muslims, Mexicans, disabled, I would NOT have accepted his endorsement
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) March 3, 2016
In addition to blasting the former Massachusetts governor for seeking his endorsement four years ago, Trump alleged disappeared in the month leading up to the election.
“This guy disappeared. He went away,” Trump said, according to Politico. “And he got killed. He got decimated in the election.”
In a separate interview, Trump went on to accuse the former nominee of gross incompetence.
“I helped him and I raised money for him and I did everything, but he didn’t do the job,” the real estate mogul said according to Politico. “He didn’t have the capability to do the job, and he certainly hasn’t gotten any better.”
Is @realDonaldTrump “playing the American public”? @MittRomney lands some punches on the GOP frontrunner https://t.co/BqxNrynchk
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) March 4, 2016
News of the Romney-Trump feud comes hot on the heels of more evidence of a crisis within the Republican Party over Trump’s unstoppable campaign juggernaut, as 95 GOP national security leaders signed an open letter opposing Trump and his stance on foreign policy issues. The complete text of the open letter can be read on the website War on the Rocks.
Romney has kept a low political profile since the 2012 election, and has thus far not endorsed a candidate or announced a bid of his own.
[Photo by Christopher Gregory/Getty Images]
