Donald Trump on Saturday relaunched attacks at Mitt Romney after the former Republican presidential contender accused this year’s presumptive nominee of promoting “trickle-down racism” in a new interview.
“The guy is a stone-cold loser,” Mr. Trump said told supporters during a rally in Tampa early Saturday.
While Mr. Romney has been vocal for months regarding his concerns with a potential Trump presidency, the influential Republican double-downed during an interview with CNN the night before.
“I simply can’t put my name down as someone who voted for principles that suggest racism or xenophobia, misogyny, bigotry,” Mr. Romney said during Friday’s broadcast.
“I don’t want to see a president of the United States saying things which change the character of the generations of Americans that are following. Presidents have an impact on the nature of our nation, and trickle-down racism, trickle-down bigotry, trickle-down misogyny, all these things are extraordinarily dangerous to the heart and character of America,” he said.
Campaigning in Florida the following morning, Mr. Trump responded by calling the 2012 GOP a “stone cold loser” and “a real stiff.”
“I watched this poor sad Mitt Romney this morning,” Mr. Trump told supporters. “I don’t think he knows what misogynist is.”
“Don’t forget this guy let us down,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump told his Twitter followers that “Romney had his chance to beat a failed president but he choked like a dog.”
“Now he calls me racist,” the New York businessman said on social media, “but I am least racist person there is.”
As the Republican establishment struggles to accept Mr. Trump as its nominee, however, the party’s likely choice for president urged supporters Saturday to unite the GOP in order to beat out the Democratic Party’s presumptive pick, Hillary Clinton.
“We have a war to win against a very crooked politician. The Republican Party really should get their act together,” The Washington Post quoted Mr. Trump as saying at Saturday’s event. “They have to come together. We have to win. And if for no other reason, the Supreme Court, remember that.”
Mr. Romney was in Park City, Utah, this week to host a closed-door summit where November’s election was the topic of discussion among Republican leaders.
“Either choice is destructive,” Mr. Romney said, according to the Associated Press. “I love this country. I love the founders. I love what this country is built upon, and its values. And seeing this is breaking my heart.”
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Corrected from earlier version which erroneously said Mr. Romney’s meeting was in Washington, D.C.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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