Mittens Rips..

Romney rips Trump as a 'phony' and a 'fraud'

By Daniel Lippman and Nolan D. McCaskill

Mittens Romney opened a new front in the Republican Party's civil war on Thursday, releasing excerpts of a blistering attack on GOP front-runner Donald Trump — who wasted no time hitting the party's 2012 nominee right back.

The speech, according to portions of it released by Romney's office, will slam Trump as “a phony” and “a fraud” who is “playing the American public for suckers."

“His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University,” the former governor plans to say at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Romney will argue that "a Trump nomination enables" former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to win in November.

"His domestic policies would lead to recession," Romney will say about Trump. "His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president. And his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill."

Romney is neither expected to endorse a candidate nor announce a third presidential bid of his own, two sources close to him told POLITICO. Instead, he'll speak in broad strokes about the state of the 2016 race for the White House — and, of course, deliver a few choice words about Trump.

The Manhattan mogul responded with a pre-emptive strike of his own on Thursday morning, phoning into morning shows and unleashing a cavalcade of tweets against Romney.

“Mittens Romney is a stiff,” Trump told NBC’s “Today.” “Mittens Romney will not get elected. Mittens Romney failed twice and really failed last time. He was going against a president that should have been beaten.”

Trump, who blasted the “failed” and “horrible candidate” for seeking his endorsement four years ago, said Romney disappeared in the month leading up to the election. “This guy disappeared. He went away,” Trump said. “And he got killed. He got decimated in the election.”

In a separate phone interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” later Thursday morning, Trump labeled Romney a “catastrophe” who is “just trying to stay relevant.”

“I helped him and I raised money for him and I did everything, but he didn’t do the job,” the real-estate mogul said. “He didn’t have the capability to do the job, and he certainly hasn’t gotten any better.”

Trump also renewed his threat to run as an independent candidate, despite his 2015 pledge to remain in the Republican Party and support its nominee.

“I am watching television and I am seeing ad after ad after ad put in by the establishment knocking the hell out of me, and it’s really unfair,” he said. “But if I leave, if I go, regardless of independent, which I may do — I mean, may or may not. But if I go, I will tell you, these millions of people that joined, they’re all coming with me.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was Romney's running mate in 2012, appeared on Fox News and was asked about the speech — which he said he hadn't read yet.

“As you know, Mittens and I are very close friends,” Ryan said. “He’s very worried about the future our party and our country. He’s a principled conservative. And he’s got a lot to say, and I look forward to seeing what he has to say.”

Ryan condemned Trump earlier this week for being slow to disavow the Ku Klux Klan, but the Republican leader has sought to remain neutral in the race and, as the chairman of the Republican National Convention, refused to get in the middle of the brewing battle between Romney and Trump.

“We don’t have a nominee yet,” he said. “This thing still has a ways to play out, and so people who are in the party are gonna be speaking their minds while we’re selecting a nominee and so everything’s fair game on the way to the nomination.”

Here are the full excerpts released ahead of Romney's speech:

In 1964, days before the presidential election, Ronald Reagan went on national television and challenged America that it was a "Time for Choosing." He saw two paths for America, one that embraced conservative principles dedicated to lifting people out of poverty and helping create opportunity for all, and the other, an oppressive government that would lead America down a darker, less free path. I'm no Ronald Reagan and this is a different moment but I believe with my heart and soul that we face another time for choosing, one that will have profound consequences for the Republican Party and more importantly, for the country. …

At home, poverty persists and wages are stagnant. The horrific massacres of Paris and San Bernardino, the aggressions of Putin, the growing assertiveness of China and the nuclear tests of North Korea confirm that we live in troubled and dangerous times. …

But if we make the right choices, America's future will be even better than our past and better than our present. …

Of the remaining candidates, the only serious policy proposals that deal with the broad range of national challenges we confront have come from Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich. …

Donald Trump says he admires Vladimir Putin, while has called George W Bush a liar. That is a twisted example of evil trumping good. …

The president of the United States has long been the leader of the free world. The president and yes the nominees of the country's great parties help define America to billions of people. All of them bear the responsibility of being an example for our children and grandchildren. …

Trump relishes any poll that reflects what he thinks of himself. But polls are also saying that he will lose to Hillary Clinton. …

On Hillary Clinton's watch at the State Department, America's interests were diminished in every corner of the world. She compromised our national secrets, dissembled to the families of the slain, and jettisoned her most profound beliefs to gain presidential power. …

A person so untrustworthy and dishonest as Hillary Clinton must not become president. But a Trump nomination enables her victory. …

I understand the anger Americans feel today. In the past, our presidents have channeled that anger, and forged it into resolve, into endurance and high purpose and into the will to defeat the enemies of freedom. Our anger was transformed into energy directed for good. …

Here's what I know. 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. …

His domestic policies would lead to recession. His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president. And his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill.