Newt Gingrich blasted Mitt Romney’s speech denouncing Donald Trump as “vitriolic and nasty,” Politico reports.
Said Gingrich: “I think if Mitt had really wanted to maneuver for the nomination, he wouldn’t have given the speech he gave last week. Because that speech was so harsh and so intense that it virtually guaranteed that I think both for the Trump people but also for a lot of the Cruz people, that Romney would just plain be unacceptable.”
Mitt Romney would not rule out becoming the Republican Party’s nominee in a NBC News interview.
Said Romney: “I don’t think anyone in our party should say, “Oh no, even if the people in the party wanted me to be the president I would say no to it.” No one’s going to say that.”
Mitt Romney admitted on CNN that Donald Trump is the “likely” nominee — but also hinted strongly that a contested convention is “a realistic scenario” that Republicans need to consider.
Mitt Romney told Bloomberg he would support an effort to deny Donald Trump the nomination at the party’s convention in July if Trump doesn’t have enough delegates to win outright.
Romney compared the possible choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton as “drink the poison or take the bullet.”
Said Romney: “If those are my only two choices I’d vote for a conservative on the ballot – and if there weren’t one that I was comfortable with, I would write in a name.”
For members: How a Third Party Option Could Work for Republicans
“I am not running for president, and I won’t run for president.”
— Mitt Romney, quoted by Yahoo News, ruling out a White House bid even if the Republican convention is contested.
Mitt Romney has instructed his closest advisers to explore the possibility of stopping Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention, CNN reports.
“The 2012 GOP nominee’s advisers are examining what a fight at the convention might look like and what rules might need revising…. Romney is focused on suppressing Trump’s delegate count to prevent him from accumulating the 1,237 delegates he needs to secure the nomination.”
For members: Trump’s Fate May Rest with Phantom Delegates
Mitt Romney dramatically opened fire on Donald Trump and said that if his “plans were ever implemented, the country would sink into a prolonged recession,” Politico reports.
“Politically, it’s a radical move for the former Republican presidential nominee to take direct aim at his party’s current leading candidate. But as a policy argument it is closer to surreal: the policies Romney is complaining about, if you look at them closely, are strikingly similar to a candidate the mainstream GOP proudly stood behind just 4 years ago. His name was Mitt Romney.”
Donald Trump responded to Mitt Romney’s takedown speech with withering scorn, Politico reports.
Said Trump: “I backed Mitt Romney. He was begging for my endorsement. I could have said ‘Mitt, drop to your knees.’ He would have dropped to his knees.”
He added: “Mitt is a failed candidate, he failed, he failed horribly. He failed badly. That was a race that should have been won.”
“Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He’s playing the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat.”
— Mitt Romney, quoted by the Washington Post.
Rick Klein: “In the epic that is the Republican race, Thursday is Mitt Romney’s day, the vanquished former champion’s best chance to influence a campaign that’s gone wildly and unrecognizably off-course. Donald Trump, of course, just reached his high-water mark in the state that elected Romney governor, and the state that elected Romney’s father votes next. They will mark Romney’s most heavy-handed attempt yet to influence the race; he’s set to call Trump a ‘phony, a fraud’ who is ‘playing the American public for suckers.'”
“Most analysis will be produced on whether Romney is a flawed messenger inside a Republican Party that’s still smarting from his 2012 loss – a loss, one might argue, that emboldened Trump to run for president. But there’s a role here for Romney that appears finally ready to embrace. Raising doubts about Trump as a ‘con man’ – Marco Rubio’s stump line – now is about creating just enough chaos in the GOP to block Trump from getting a majority of convention delegates. Under that scenario, the rest of the field may be better off divided than unified; note that Romney is praising Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich Thursday.”
“It’s not the first, second, or third option for a panicked GOP, but it might be the last option left. So enter, Mitt.”
“Looks like two-time failed candidate Mitt Romney is going to be telling Republicans how to get elected. Not a good messenger!”
— Donald Trump, tweeting in advance of Romney’s speech today on Trump’s candidacy.
“Donald Trump has shown an extraordinary ability to understand how our economy works to create jobs for the American people. He’s done it here in Nevada, he’s done it across the country… He’s one of the few people who stood up and said, you know what, China’s been cheating. They’ve taken jobs from Americans.”
— Mitt Romney praising Donald Trump four years ago.
“Mitt Romney will lay out his case for why Donald Trump shouldn’t be the nominee of the Republican Party in a speech on Thursday in Utah,” Bloomberg reports.
“Romney doesn’t believe Trump is the right person to lead the party, and wants to make his case before the New York businessman can start coalescing party leaders, the source said.”
Sen. Harry Reid told CNN that he’s stunned to see Mitt Romney demanding Donald Trump’s tax returns.
Said Reid: “All I know, I can’t imagine Romney having the gall coming after anybody’s returns. Let’s look at his. He never gave us his tax returns. Who was the brainchild who got him to do that? Romney never gave us his tax returns. He did not — he gave us his summary, he didn’t give us our tax returns.”
“Mitt Romney, who was one of the dumbest and worst candidates in the history of Republican politics, is now pushing me on tax returns. Dope!”
— Donald Trump, on Twitter.
Mitt Romney is hitting Donald Trump over not releasing tax information, CNN reports.
Said Romney: “We have good reason to believe that there’s a bombshell in Donald Trump’s taxes. Either he’s not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is, or he hasn’t been paying taxes we would expect him to pay or perhaps he hasn’t been giving money to vets or to the disabled like he’s been telling us he’s been doing.”
In a major development in the Republican presidential race, 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney will endorse Sen. Marco Rubio for president, the Huffington Post reports.
“Romney spent the day in Utah on Saturday and could potentially be in position to bestow his blessing upon Rubio before Tuesday’s Nevada Republican caucuses–a contest that Romney won easily in both 2008 and 2012.”
“Romney’s backing will provide Rubio with the highest-profile endorsement of the 2016 race and is the clearest signal yet that the party’s establishment is ready to coalesce around the Florida senator as its last best chance to defeat GOP front-runner Donald Trump.”
Two of Mitt Romney’s closest advisers — including his national finance chairman — gave maximum donations to Chris Christie’s presidential campaign, after the New Jersey governor’s widely praised debate performance in New Hampshire, the Washington Post reports.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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