Former Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney will enter the fray more formally today by delivering a speech in Utah where he will outline reasons why his party should vehemently oppose Donald Trump as the nominee. For weeks, Romney has been taking shots at Trump on twitter, though today marks a more formal indictment of the Trump candidacy.
Report from the Associated Press on March 3:
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 will brand the billionaire businessman as “a phony, a fraud” whose “promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University” in a speech Thursday morning 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.
Romney and Trump were very friendly during the 2012 cycle, with Romney gladly accepting Trump’s endorsement and heaping praise on the business mogul. The tables have fully turned in 2016 with Romney now employing some of the harshest rhetoric of the campaign in attempting to halt Trump’s momentum on his steady march toward the Republican nomination.
Without a doubt, this speech will become a topic at the Fox News Republican debate airing tonight at 9pm ET.
Update
The video of Romney’s speech, just about 18 minutes:
Transcript available from Heavy.com
