Trump Adviser: Mitt Romney a ‘Coward’ for Not Entering GOP Primary

Donald Trump returned to the combative form that helped him win the U.S. Republican presidential nomination, slamming Democrats, calling for his party to unite behind him, and responding to Mitt Romney’s suggestion that his election could lead to “trickle-down racism”.

I began reconsidering that assumption last Friday when I read a Washington Post article on how former MA governor Mitt Romney had convened his annual “ideas festival” on June 9 in that one-percenters heaven, Park City, Utah. House Speaker Paul Ryan squirmed as he was asked how he could support Trump after denouncing the candidates comments about the judge.

Trump, speaking at a rally in Richmond, Virginia, Friday night, didn’t address Romney’s criticism directly but did say, “I am the least racist person, the least racist person that you’ve ever seen”, a line he frequently says at campaign events.

The attacks came a day after Romney echoed his refusal to endorse Trump, saying he lacks the temperament to be commander-in-chief. “I love what this country is built upon and it’s values, and seeing this is breaking my heart”, said the former MA governor and GOP presidential nominee in 2012.

“On that issue alone, I think we win the election”.

Romney has been the most visible spokesman for the “Never Trump” movement. “But the pivot has to happen, and it’s not”, said John Rakolta Jr., a former fundraiser and family friend of Romney who lives in MI. “It’s too important. A choker is a choker”. “This is not a rabidly anti-Trump crowd”, Scaramucci said.

Romney conceded, though, that he understands why many conservatives will vote for Trump, even if he can not. But for now, Romney said he was trying to remain focused on the future, though he has now ruled out serving in the next White House. I don’t have to make an endorsement.

Romney again speculated about what might be in Trump’s tax returns, which he has repeatedly declined to release, claiming that he’s under audit. And we’ve been doing a pretty good job of making sure that the black guy wasn’t able to get anything done, and, well, it turns out that’s not really enough.

Romney also shared some disappointment in the Republican candidates who wooed him fervently for support, saying they largely shied away from a fight with Trump in the primary.

The group at the retreat represented a mix of the Republican Party, divided between those who have said they can not support Trump, like Romney, and those who have grudgingly endorsed him, like Ryan, who was Romney’s running mate in 2012. He correctly said that the other candidates themselves deserve some of the blame for having spent so much time blasting one another rather than aiming to take down the front-runner when he could still have been stopped.

Find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via Facebook, Twitter and the First Draft newsletter. When pollster Frank Luntz asked a crowd to raise their hands if they would vote for Trump in November, only about 20% of the Romney associates raised their hands, according to Al Cardenas, a prominent GOP lobbyist and fund-raiser. Said one fundraiser to the Associated Press: “I’m an optimist by nature, and I keep hoping and hoping and hoping that there will be a reason to support him”.