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Donald Trump Responds To Threat Of ‘Independent Candidate,’ Mitt Romney Rumored To Be The Spoiler

By Val Powell
Published on: 14:10 PST, May 31, 2016

The candidacy of Donald Trump is being threatened as Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol teased that an independent candidate is all set to join the presidential race.

On Sunday, Bill Kristol teased his followers about “an independent candidate” with “a real chance.”

The tweet has since generated a flurry of comments. Rob Garver of the Fiscal Times wrote that the promise of a third-party candidate this late in the game is “optimistic.” He said getting the hopeful’s name across 50 states with only several months left before the November elections would be a daunting task unless that person “has Trump-like name recognition.”

Garver also noted creating a “strong team” at this point would pose a “major challenge.” However, he said, many Republican operatives who are part of the #NeverTrump movement have the experience to run a campaign trail, and would “probably jump at a chance to join a credible opposition.”

The said presidential candidate, who is speculated to be a traditional Republican, will supposedly give others a reason to come out and vote in the polls. In the process, it would mean protecting down-ballot Republicans.

Nonetheless, Garver did not rule out the possibility that Bill Kristol’s declaration of an independent candidate may have been an attempt to spoil Donald Trump’s weekend holiday.

Whatever the motivation may be, the threat of a new opponent did not sit well with the GOP presumptive presidential nominee. Trump slammed the Weekly Standard editor, even calling him a “dummy” and an “embarrassed loser.”

In a series of tweets, the former The Apprentice host called out the Republican Party to be “smart & strong” should it want to win the coming elections. He also advised the party to “be tough.”

Donald Trump also reiterated his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski’s warning that having a third person in the race would mean bidding goodbye to the Second Amendment because “a Democrat would make new appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Ben Carson also echoed the concerns laid out by Donald Trump. When the former presidential aspirant talked to Fox News on Monday, he used the 1992 elections as an example of what could happen.

“A quarter of a century ago, another Clinton was running for the White House, and it was the entrance of a third-party candidate, Ross Perot, that made it possible for him to win,” Ben Carson noted. “Wouldn’t it be ironic if the same thing happened this time?”

When pressed to name who he thinks the independent candidate may be, the retired neurosurgeon did not give specifics but claimed that he has heard of “rumors like everyone else has.”

Ben Carson warned that having a third person in the race would mean tilting the odds for the possible Democratic nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Amid the warning given by Donald Trump and his backers, rumors are rife that the independent candidate may be the real estate mogul’s outspoken critic, Mitt Romney. The former governor of Massachusetts was the Republican Party’s 2012 nominee.

However, the former presidential candidate’s spokesperson Ryan Williams already debunked claims that he will be aiming for the White House position again this year, reported Breitbart News.

Williams clarified that he had not heard of Mitt Romney “changing his mind about a third party run.” He further said he doesn’t “expect him to change his decision.”

“Romney has been clear in the past that he will not be a candidate for president this year and I’ve seen nothing to indicate that he would change course,” he said. “Gov. Romney has made his views about Donald Trump clear.

“He’s indicated that he doesn’t want to vote for him in the general election, and I think at this point his efforts are best directed at helping to elect Republican governors and maintain our majorities in the House and the Senate.”

[Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]

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