Romney has blasted Trump in recent weeks for attacks he has made on the Mexican-American judge presiding over a case against him, with Romney warning on Friday about the effect that “trickle-down racism” could have on the country. I don’t want to see a president of the United States saying things that would change the character of the generations of Americans that are following.
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Romney said he will consider voting for the Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson.
But Trump reiterated his defense against accusations of racism in his Tampa speech, saying “I am the least racist person you’ve ever met, believe me”.
“I watched this poor sad Mitt Romney this morning”, Trump recalled of the interview where Romney called Trump a racist, among other attacks.
“I thought it was time for someone new”.
Romney has made no secret of his disdain for Trump, calling out his intensely personal criticism of fellow Republicans and controversial comments about women and minority groups.
“You listen to Paul Ryan, who I have enormous respect for, I don’t argue with him at all (.) and I wouldn’t suggest for a minute that he ought to change his position and adopt the one that I’ve taken”, he went on.
Trump’s rhetoric has caused even some other Republicans to label him a racist, and Romney said he would not be able to paper over his incendiary remarks.
Trump says the judge can not be fair to him in a Trump University civil case because the judge’s parents were born in Mexico and Trump wants to build a border fence.
“I don’t think he got the scrutiny applied to him that is typically applied to a front-runner by the people running against him”, he said, lamenting that they were “firing at each other”.
Many former Republican presidential candidates have a dim view of Donald J. Trump.
“I love what this country is built upon, and its values – and seeing this is breaking my heart”, Romney told the summit attendees.
After weeks of holding out, Mr. Ryan endorsed the NY businessman in early June, breaking with a number of establishment Republicans who see Mr. Trump’s rhetoric as damaging to the party.
But Romney also acknowledged that Trump had won the Republican primary contest “fair and square” and had a “very effective strategy” – despite his skeletal campaign and minimal spending.
His comments come as Republicans tread carefully around their party’s 2016 standard-bearer.
Romney says he will not vote for Trump or Hillary Clinton.
Mitt Romney brandishing the comments as part of a “trickle-down racism” characterization was not the only criticism of Trump’s statements.
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Mr. Trump, a real estate mogul, has long bragged of his ability to self-fund his primary campaign, both because of his enormous fortune and because the media’s propensity to follow his every move gave him so much free press.
