March 3, 2016

Watch Mitt Romney Attempt to Tear Down “Phony” Donald Trump


Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney slammed Donald Trump on Thursday as “a phony” and “a fraud,” urging fellow Republicans to disavow the real estate magnate’s bid for the White House.

“His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University,” Romney said at the University of Utah. “He’s playing the American public for suckers. He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat.”

Romney went on to make the case against Trump’s increasingly likely nomination, arguing that it would hurt the Republican Party and ultimately mean a loss to Hillary Clinton in the general election. Romney’s speech represents a larger effort by Republican leaders to put an end to Trump’s momentum.

The blistering remarks, which took aim at Trump’s economic promises, foreign policy plans, and character, come just two days after Trump’s overwhelming Super Tuesday victories in the Republican primaries.

“Dishonesty is Donald Trump’s hallmark,” Romney told the crowd.

Responding to excerpts of the speech that were released early, Trump hit back at the former Massachusetts governor with the following tweets, including a reminder that Romney embraced Trump’s support back when Romney was running for president:

In his speech, Romney referred to these tweets as an example of Trump’s lack of “suitability” to be president. He somehow neglected to mention any of this when he accepted Trump’s endorsement back in 2012.

Brian Cahn/ZUMA

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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