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A Stern Mitt Romney Attacks Donald Trump as ‘a Phony’ and ‘a Fraud’

Romney Makes the case Against Trump ..Go watch it here:
[ http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/03/mitt-romney-to-make-case-against-donald-trump-in-utah-speech/?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=a-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news ]

March the Third, 2016

Updated, 12:24 p.m. | Mitt Romney called Donald J. Trump “a phony” and “a fraud” in an impassioned speech on Thursday in which he urged Republicans to rally around another candidate and warned that a Trump presidency could lead American into a dark abyss.

The hastily organized speech, which was delivered in Utah, was a last-ditch effort among leaders in the Republican Party to blunt Mr. Trump’s momentum before he runs away with the presidential nomination. Mr. Romney has been criticizing Mr. Trump on social media in recent weeks, calling on him to release his tax returns and arguing that slowness to denounce the Ku Klux Klan was disqualifying for a presidential candidate.

On Thursday Mr. Romney was unsparing, eviscerating Mr. Trump as unstable, immoral and cruel.

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

The former Massachusetts governor and 2012 presidential candidate, who considered making a third run in 2016, argued that Mr. Trump’s economic policies would create another recession and that he is not suited to represent America on the global stage. He lamented that Mr. Trump has called for bringing back torture and for punishing the innocent families of terrorists. And he expressed concern that, if elected, Mr. Trump would erode the foundations of American democracy.

“He cheers assaults on protesters,” Mr. Romney said. “He applauds the prospect of twisting the Constitution to limit First Amendment freedom of the press. This is the very brand of anger that has led other nations into the abyss.”

The public skewering of Mr. Trump was also deeply personal. Mr. Romney accused him of being an overrated businessman, bemoaned his mockery of the disable and pointed out his history of marital affairs while predicting that Mr. Trump would be an embarrassing commander-in- chief.

“There is dark irony in his boasts of his sexual exploits during the Vietnam War while John McCain, whom he has mocked, was imprisoned and tortured,” Mr. Romney said.

In an instance of old rivals uniting, Mr. McCain praised Mr. Romney for speaking out.

“I share the concerns about Donald Trump that my friend and former Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, described in his speech today,” Mr. McCain said in a statement. “I would also echo the many concerns about Mr. Trump’s uninformed and indeed dangerous statements on national security issues that have been raised by 65 Republican defense and foreign policy leaders.”

Mr. Romney spoke for about 20 minutes before more than 600 people at the Hinckley Institute of Politics in Salt Lake City. While the audience was generally supportive, there were some skeptics in the crowd.

Max Chaz, who backed Mr. Romney in 2012, arrived in a “Make America Great Again” hat that is the hallmark of Mr. Trump’s campaign. He was turned off by Mr. Romney’s late effort to tilt the election and said it was “bordering on tyranny when the party turns around at this date after Trump has been so successful and decide they don’t like the outcome.”

It remained unclear what influence Mr. Romney still has with Republican primary voters who have become increasingly wary of “establishment” politicians. So far, he has declined to formally endorse any of the Republican candidates, although there were rumors that he might support Senator Marco Rubio.

While he did not single out a favorite on Thursday, Mr. Romney made clear that he is pulling for anyone who can stop Mr. Trump.

“Of the remaining candidates, the only serious policy proposals that deal with the broad range of national challenges we confront have come from Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich,” Mr. Romney said.

Mr. Trump responded quickly and forcefully and was expected to offer a full-throated rebuttal during an afternoon campaign rally. In an interview on MNSBC earlier Thursday, he recalled that Mr. Romney “begged” for his endorsement four years ago. “He ran one of the worst campaigns, as you know, in presidential history,” Mr. Trump said. “That was an election that should have been won by the Republicans.”

The Trump campaign also preemptively released a video on Facebook featuring clips of Mr. Romney making statements that were at odds with conservative orthodoxy on immigration, health care, abortion and climate change.

The tension between the two Republicans was a far cry from four years ago, when Mr. Romney lavished praise upon Mr. Trump when receiving his endorsement in Las Vegas. On that day, he flattered Mr. Trump for being the more successful businessman and described him as a visionary on economic issues.

“Donald Trump has shown an extraordinary ability to understand how our economy works, to create jobs for the American people,” Mr. Romney said.

Mr. Trump was equally glowing about Mr. Romney at the time, suggesting that he had the talent to make America great: “Mitt is tough, he’s smart, he’s sharp, he’s not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country that we all love.”