Paul Manafort: ‘Mitt Romney Is A Coward,’ Top Trump Adviser Says


During Sunday’s segment of ABC’s This Week, Paul Manafort had some pretty harsh words for Mitt Romney. Manafort, the campaign chair and top adviser for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, called the former 2012 GOP presidential candidate a “coward” for his attacks on Trump.

“Romney wanted to run, chose not to,” Manafort told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview. “He’s now attacking this past weekend all the other Republican who ran for president as well saying they should have done a better job. Well, if he feels that way he should have run. He was a coward.”

As reported by the Huffington Post, Manafort’s criticism of Romney didn’t end there and he continued ripping into the former Massachusetts governor.

“He didn’t want to get into the race,” Manafort said. “He had an opportunity to get in the race and chose not to and now he’s criticizing all those who Trump beat for not running a good campaign and he’s criticizing Trump who got over 3.5 million votes more than Romney got in the primaries this year. And actually one of the under-reported facts is when you look at what Trump is getting today in the Hispanic community, in the black community, in the independent community, he’s equaling or doing better than Romney did at the end of the campaign. So Romney is not one to criticize and Donald Trump, who has tapped into an angst in America, he’s got a campaign strategy and is running a campaign.”

Manafort’s remarks come just a few days after an interview aired in which Romney accused the billionaire businessman of promoting racism, bigotry, and misogyny. He also suggested Trump could “change the character” of the next generation of Americans through “trickle-down racism.”

Romney lashed out at Trump during a recent speech to nearly 300 political and business leaders at his annual summit in Park City, Utah. According to ABC News, Romney said he worried about the example a Trump presidency might set for future generations.

“Presidents have an impact on the nature of our nation, and trickle-down racism, trickle-down bigotry and trickle-down misogyny – all these things are extraordinarily dangerous to the heart and character of America,” Romney was quoted as saying.

Stephanopoulos also had some questions for Manafort regarding some comments made by Meg Whitman, the Hewlett-Packard chief executive. Over the weekend, Whitman, a major contributor to Republican candidates, reportedly likened Trump to fascists such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Manafort had the following response for Whitman’s comments.

“Well, I think they’re sitting in their cocoon, you know, away from the reality of the world,” Manafort explained. “I mean, Donald Trump is none of those things. And this is sore losers.”

It seems Romney won’t let up in his attack against Trump, who he has labeled as being “a phony” and “a fraud.” CNN wrote that Romney on Saturday torched Donald Trump and the Republicans who failed to stop his climb to the party’s presidential nomination, saying the current fortunes of the GOP are “breaking my heart.” He also spoke out against Republican candidates such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for not stopping Trump’s rise in the primary.

Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said Sunday he would withhold his endorsement of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign until he puts an end to making “outlandish statements.” Flake said Trump’s comments about a Latino federal judge were inappropriate and he feels he should apologize for saying that Judge Gonzalo Curiel couldn’t impartially oversee lawsuits against Trump University because he is of Mexican heritage.

“There are certain things you can’t do as a candidate,” Flake said, before adding that “some of the things he’s done, I think, are beyond the pale.”

[Photo by George Frey/Getty Images]

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