Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, is not holding his tongue when it comes to what he thinks of current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump and the “damage” he’s doing to the Republican Party.
On “The Axe Files,” a podcast hosted by David Axelrod, President Barack Obama’s former campaign manager, Romney said, “I think Donald Trump has said a number of things which are hurtful, and he has said they were childish in some respects, and I think will be potentially problematic either in a primary or in a general election if he were to become the nominee. They relate to things he’s said about women and things he’s said about members of the news media, things he’s said about Hispanics.”
Romney believes Trump is damaging the potential of Republicans to win Hispanic votes, no matter who wins the primary. “Some of the things he’s said — particularly about Hispanics — will be problematic certainly for him if he were to go to the next stage. But for whoever our nominee is,” Romney said. (RELATED: Romney Rips Hillary’s ‘Misguided’ and ‘Mistaken’ Foreign Policy Record)
However, the former Massachusetts governor thinks two candidates might be able to overcome the damage he sees Trump doing. “Now if our nominee happened to be somebody like Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush who have strong Hispanic roots themselves and connections themselves that might not be as big an issue. But if it were maybe somebody else that didn’t have those connections, why it could probably remain as a shadow above their campaign.”
For his part, Donald Trump would have none of it. Trump responded on Twitter.
.@MittRomney can only speak negatively about my presidential chances because I have been openly hard on his terrible "choke" loss to Obama!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2015
.@MittRomney and his campaign manager should not be critical of candidates after they blew an election that should never have been lost!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2015
Does everyone remember @MittRomney and his famous remarks about "self-deportation" and "47%". He was done. I don't need his angry advice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2015
In 2012 Mitt Romney got only 27 percent of the Hispanic vote. The 2008 GOP nominee John McCain received 31 percent and George W. Bush got 44 percent in his 2004 reelection against Democrat John Kerry.