After seeking Donald Trump’s endorsement in 2012, Mitt Romney will call Trump “a phony” and “a fraud” during a speech on Thursday, according to his prepared remarks.
“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,” according to the prepared remarks published by Bloomberg Politics.
Romney’s prepared remarks then attack Trump’s policies.
“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 American would cease to be a shining city on a hill,” he said in his prepared remarks.
Romney is also set to say America faces “another time for choosing,” a reference to a 1964 speech by Ronald Regan, as published by The Washington Post.
“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,” he said in the prepared remarks.
“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,” Romney added.
The speech will be a marked departure from the warm relationship the two businessmen had when Trump endorsed Romney for President in February 2012. Trump said endorsing Romney was “a privilege.”
Upon accepting the endorsement, Romney said Trump had “an extraordinary ability to understand how our economy works and create jobs for the American people.”
Watch the 2012 endorsement, via CSPAN:
