Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s harsh rebuke of GOP front-runner Donald Trump Thursday morning left many in the press confused about his motives, and had some doubting that the speech would do anything to throw Trump off his game, while others said Romney was likely launching his own bid to win the White House.
Romney came out Friday against Trump and warned that nominating the billionaire businessman would be disastrous for the Republican Party and America.
“Think of Donald Trump’s personal qualities. The bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third grade theatrics,” the former governor said in a blistering speech. “You know, we have long referred to him as ‘The Donald.’ He’s the only person in the entire country to whom we have added an article before his name, and it was not because he had attributes we admired.”
The speech left former Republican National Committee chairman and MSNBC contributor Michael Steel wondering how the speech would draw anyone away from Trump, especially the thousands of new voters he’s drawn to the polls.
“I don’t know why they think this is going to work in the first place. I don’t know who they think this is going to influence,” Steele said.
“Keep in mind, Mitt Romney lost 3 million Republicans, who didn’t even bother to show up and vote for him because they did not support his campaign,” he added. “So now to double back and to go after the very guy who has brought them back into the party…”
Steele added that the GOP establishment would likely need Trump by the end, a point Trump himself has raised by saying many of his voters wouldn’t vote if Trump left the party.
“Even if he is not the nominee because he is bringing voters back in who have not been a part of this process… If you’re going after the guy they are now rallying behind, I don’t understand what they think is going to happen here,” he added.
Prior to Romney’s address, Bloomberg News’ Mark Halperin appeared less confused by Romney’s strategy, and explained that the 2016 GOP presidential candidate wanted to add his “unique voice” to a primary debate scheduled for Thursday evening.
CNBC’s Rick Santelli, however, appeared skeptical and dismissive after the governor’s eventual address.
“I haven’t seen this Mitt Romney, as a matter of fact, the only word I could think of is irony and I’ll tell you where my mind is going,” he said.
“I guess I’m a little lost that all of a sudden he has the courage that he didn’t display at a time where the vice president, Biden, and the current president, Barack Obama, partially were elected because of the following statement: GM is alive and bin Laden is dead,” he added. “It was all about terrorism and Mitt Romney, if you’d have had that courage that day, would have most likely won. That’s what I don’t get.”
Over at CNN, Dr. Ben Carson’s former campaign manager theorized that Romney’s speech served one purpose: to lay the groundwork for a plan by the so-called GOP “establishment” to steal the nomination from Trump at the Republican Party convention.
“I thought [Romney’s speech] was pretty sad, and very outrageous. What it was, was a call to arms to the establishment, that we need to do everything we can to subvert the will of the voters and steal the nomination at the convention,” Barry Bennett said.
“Plain and simple,” said Bennett, who now advises Trump’s top aides.
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell said Romney’s address was little more than a vote for gridlock, and suggested that the former governor wants to present himself as a possible third party candidate.
“He is absolutely going after the base. This is a man who is putting himself out there as the leader of a Republican party that is so fractured and has no single leader and also, by the way, calling for voters in each state, in each of the big March 15th states to go with their strength, to block Trump from collecting more winner take all votes,” she said.
“He is basically arguing for gridlock, deadlock and I know from my own reporting that Mitt Romney is putting himself out there. He will never say this, but he’s putting himself out there as the party’s alternative to Donald Trump,” Mitchell added.
Trump responded to Romney Friday by dismissing the former presidential GOP candidate as a has-been and yesterday’s news. “Mitt is a choke artist,” the casino tycoon told supporters in Portland, Maine.
Trump continued, claiming that Romney begged him in 2012 for an endorsement.
“You can see how loyal he is. … I could have said Mitt, drop to your knees, he would have dropped to his knees,” he said.
