Donald Trump and Mitt Romney no longer see eye to eye. The former Governor of Massachusetts pleaded with Republicans on Thursday, March 3, to vote for any other candidate in the presidential race than Trump, which led the former Celebrity Apprentice host to lash out via Twitter.
“Looks like two-time failed candidate Mitt Romney is going to be telling Republicans how to get elected. Not a good messenger!” Trump, 69, wrote. “Failed candidate Mitt Romney, who ran one of the worst races in presidential history, is working with the establishment to bury a big ‘R’ win!”
Romney, 68, shared his thoughts during the Hinckley Institute of Politics Forum in Utah. “I believe with all my heart and soul that we face another time for choosing, one that will have profound consequences for the Republican Party and more importantly, for the country,” Romney said, via NBC. “[Trump’s] domestic policies would lead to recession. His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president. And his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill.”
Romney also said that Trump is a “phony” and a “fraud” during the rare public appearance. “Given the current delegate selection process, this means that I would vote for Marco Rubio in Florida, for John Kasich in Ohio, and for Ted Cruz or whichever one of the other two contenders has the best chance of beating Mr. Trump in a given state,” he continued.
Trump, who dominated in the GOP Super Tuesday primaries, was quick to push back. “I have brought millions of people into the Republican Party, while the Dems are going down. Establishment wants to kill this movement!” he tweeted. “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.'”
Trump is all too familiar with Romney’s 2012 presidential loss against President Barack Obama. Trump previously supported Romney during the election, and referred to his backing via Twitter.
“Why did Mitt Romney BEG me for my endorsement four years ago?” he wrote on Thursday.
Trump later spoke out about the subject during a rally in Portland, Maine. “I don’t know what happened to him,” he said on Thursday. “You can see how loyal he is. He was begging for my endorsement. I could have said, ‘Mitt, drop to your knees.’ He would have dropped to his knees.”
Romney took notice and tweeted: “If Trump had said 4 years ago the things he says today about the KKK, Muslims, Mexicans, disabled, I would NOT have accepted his endorsement.”
