The most weirdly hypocritical takedowns in Mitt Romney's anti-Trump speech

Mitt Romney makes seemingly hypocritical remarks in anti-Trump speech.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Mitt Romney's Thursday morning Donald Trump takedown was highly anticipated, but for all the wrong reasons. For one, Donald Trump has been having a field day taking shots at Romney in the lead-up to the speech, pointing out (rightly) that the onetime Republican presidential nominee had sought Trump's endorsement years ago. "Failed candidate Mitt Romney, who ran one of the worst races in presidential history, is working with the establishment to bury a big 'R' win!" Trump gleefully scolded on Twitter.

And then there was the speech itself. A preview of Romney's speech was released ahead of time, prompting Gawker to beg, "Mitt! Please don't deliver this terrible speech!" Romney's "fighting words" were "phony" and "fraud" and "very, very not smart" — a cringe-worthy defense against super-bully Trump:

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.