Scott Powers
In a desperate appeal Thursday, Mitt Romney drew on passion and bluntness he never showed in his 2012 presidential campaign as he called on Americans to reject Donald Trump as a phony, a fraud, a misogynist, a bully and a vulgar man.
Speaking from the Hinkley Institute in Utah, Romney blasted Trump’s economic policies, saying they would sink America into deep recession; his foreign policies, saying they are troubling allies and strengthening enemies; and his character, saying he could be a role model for no children. Romney also disputed that Trump is a successful businessman.
Trump’s worst sin, Romney said in his 17-minute speech broadcast live on many TV networks, is that he would ensure a win for Democrat Hillary Clinton, for whom Romney showed little more respect.
“A person as dishonest and untrustworthy as Hillary Clinton must not become president,” Romney said. “Of course, a Trump nomination enables her victory.”
Romney’s speech epitomized the near-panic mode distressing many establishment Republicans as Trump cruises to win after win in state caucuses and primaries, staying firmly atop national GOP presidential polls.
Romney started his speech by saying he was running for nothing and wouldn’t endorse any candidates “today.” He spoke highly of the three remaining Trump challengers, U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
But he also called on those three to “find some common ground” to defeat Trump, perhaps a call for a desperate deal to leave just one of them in the race.
Romney also braced himself for attacks by Trump, saying he expected Trump to take a low road in the attacks, but “I’m sure he won’t prove he isn’t a phony.”
Romney left no aspect of Trump out of his attacks, ticking them off one by one, after describing a potentially bright future for America.
“I believe with all my heart and soul that we face another time of choosing, one that will have profound consequences for the Republican Party, and more importantly for our country,” Romney said.
“If we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished,” Romney said.
On the economic front, he said he believed Trump’s 35-percent tariff proposal would institute a trade war, raise prices, kill export jobs, and hurt entrepreneurs and businesses. Romney said Trump’s tax plan “would balloon the deficit and national debt.”
“If Donald Trump’s plans were ever implemented, the country would sink into prolonged recession,” Romney said.
On foreign policy and national security, Romney said Trump’s penchant for “insulting all Muslims” and other statements alarms allies and fuels enemies.
“This recklessness is recklessness in the extreme,” Romney said.
He blistered Trump’s business record, saying he inherited his business and stumbled through business bankruptcies. Romney listed several Trump businesses that failed.
“But you say, wait, wait, wait, isn’t he a huge business success? Doesn’t he know what he is talking about?” Romney mocked. “No, he isn’t. And no he doesn’t. … A business genius, he is not.”
Romney softly praised Trump’s ambitions to kill Obamacare and bring jobs back from overseas, but accused Trump of offering no specifics that suggested he knew how to do so.
“Successfully bringing jobs home requires serious policy and reforms,” Romney said.
But Romney saved his harshest and most prolonged blasts for his assessment of Trump’s character, rattling off examples of callous comments and statements that were disproved or could not be substantiated. Romney accused Trump of “bragged about his marital affairs” and of “lacing his public speeches with vulgarity.” He accused Trump of bullying, greed, showing off, misogyny, and “absurd third-grade theatrics.”
“He’s not of the temperament of the kind of stable, thoughtful person we need as a leader. His imagination must not be married to real power,” Romney said. “The president of the United States has long been leader of the free world. The president, and yes, the nominees of the county’s great parties, help define America to billions of people around the world. All bear the responsibility of being an example for our children and our grandchildren.”
Romney was quickly joined by U.S. Sen. John McCain, the Republicans’ 2008 presidential nominee.
“I share the concerns about Donald Trump that my friend and former Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, described in a speech today,” McCain said in a statement released after the speech. “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.
“At a time when our world has never been more complex or more in danger, as we watch the threatening actions of a neo-Imperial Russia, and assertive China, and expansionist Iran, an insane North Korean ruler, and terrorist movements that are metastasizing across the Middle East and Africa, I want Republican voters to pay close attention to what our party’s most respected and knowledgeable leaders and national security experts are saying about Mr. Trump, and to think long and hard about who they want to be our next commander in chief and leader of the free world.”
