Mitt Romney On Donald Trump: 'Phony,' 'Fraud,' Con Man'

By ALISON BAUTER (Patch Staff)

TEWKSBURY, MA - Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney blasted his party's front-runner Thursday, condemning Donald Trump as a "con man and a fake," while declining to endorse any one candidate against him.

Two days after a Super Tuesday sweep positioned Trump as the likely GOP presidential nominee, Romney unleashed a scorched-earth speech eviscerating the billionaire businessman for everything from his personality to his "dangerous" foreign policy positions.

"Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud," Romney said. "He's playing the members of the American public for suckers. He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat."

He grabbed audience laughs and garnered wide media coverage as he condemned Trump for his temperament, instability, dishonesty, vulgar language and juvenile behavior.

"Watch, by the way, how he responds to my speech today," Romney said, to audience applause.

The former Massachusetts governor, who lost in 2012 to an incumbent Barack Obama, weighed a repeat run in 2016, but ultimately opted out. In the interim, outspoken Trump has surged to the front of the pack.

Characteristically, Trump took to Twitter before the much-publicized remarks, painting Romney as a "failed candidate" who had to all-caps "BEG" for a Trump endorsement in 2012.

I am the only one who can beat Hillary Clinton. I am not a Mitt Romney, who doesn't know how to win. Hillary wants no part of "Trump"

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2016

Trump isn't Romney's only critic. Pundits point out that the former presidential candidate represents the Republican establishment Trump's "self-funded candidate" speeches and populist rhetoric have played so well against. Additionally, Romney released excerpts from his remarks prior to the speech, undercutting the surprise factor that has so successfully captivated headlines in Trump's hands.

In response to those who paint Trump as presumptive nominee, Romney noted the rules of political history may not apply, having been "pretty much shredded during this campaign." Breaking one of those rules himself, Romney praised all three of Trump's challengers. Instead of offering an individual endorsement, he suggested which candidate to vote for in each winner-take-all primary state for the greatest chance for victory against Trump.

"One of these men should be the nominee," he said.

Failing to unite around one of those candidates, he said, ensures a victory for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who most polls show beating Trump in a general election.

Romney also called on Trump to disprove those that call him a "phony" by releasing his tax data, as well as the transcript from an off-the-record conversation with the New York Times' editorial board that allegedly conflicts with his public statements.

He made his remarks at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City hours before the Republican candidates gather for a Fox News debate in Detroit, the largest city Romney’s home state of Michigan.

» Photos by Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons