Maine – Hours after 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney attacked Donald Trump on Thursday in a sharp speech by describing him as a “phony” and a “fraud”, the billionaire defended himself at a rally in Maine, calling Romney a “lightweight” and a “failed candidate”.
Romney stated that the Republican front-runner lacked the temperament or judgement to serve as a president. He addressed Trump’s national security proposals, economic plans, foreign policy and other issues, affirming that the business man’s administration would be marked by his “bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third-grade theatrics.”
The former GOP nominee predicted that his speech would be followed by Trump’s anger and personal attacks. He was not wrong. Trump revealed that Romney was begging for his endorsement in 2012 and even said that he would have dropped to his knees if the billionaire had asked him to.
Mitt Romney referred to Donald Trump as a failed businessman, saying that the very few economic plans he had offered clearly reflect that he was not the huge business success everyone thought. He accused Trump of having crushed small businesses along with their workers with his bankruptcies and pointed out that he had inherited his business, not created it.
This comments prompted the billionaire to an extended talk about his wealth, giving a list of his most successful building projects and suggesting he was much better at business than the multimillionaire Romney.
“It was very nasty,” Trump said referring to Mr. Romney’s speech. “I thought he was a better person than that.”
Romney thinks the other candidates do represent the party’s values
Romney argued that the nomination of Trump would directly imply the victory of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the general election, which would be damaging to the country as well, he said.
The former GOP nominee said that on her watch, America’s interests would be completely ignored. He accused the Clintons of compromising the national secrets and “trading their political influence to enrich their personal finances” during the last 30 years.
Before his rally in Maine, Trump said on Twitter that he was the only one who was able to beat Hillary Clinton, but Romney told Americans that Republicans should choose any of the other candidates over Trump. He said he would vote for Sen. Marco Rubio in Florida, for Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas and for John Kasich in Ohio, when they vote on March 15, supposing he lived in any of those states.
Romney believes the Republican Party could nominate a candidate who would represent the policies and values of conservatism if the other candidates found common ground.
Read the transcript of Romney’s speech here
Source: New York Times