Mitt Romney had a chance to be president four years ago, and he muffed it. A few months ago, Romney had a chance to be relevant in this cycle’s presidential race, and he decided not to run.
So why is he meddling in the Republican primary now? And why is he using financial speculation regarding Donald Trump that didn’t work in 2015?
You may recall last year when Trump was floating rumors that he might run for president the “expert” opinion was that it was just publicity–hungry Donald stealing a few news cycles before he went back to reality TV and celebrityhood.
Everyone “knew” that Trump wasn’t serious because the experts couldn’t conceive that he would be willing to fill out the financial forms a candidacy required. These aren’t press releases, these forms are official government documents and a false filing has legal consequences.
The K Street Kommandos who run the establishment wing of the GOP were convinced that Trump’s claim to be a billionaire was just hot air, and he would never expose that reality to the public with the filing document.
Then, in what should have been a warning to the “experts,” Trump filed a 100–page financial form that calculated his worth at $10 billion.
So much for the experts.
Now, eight months later, they’re at it again with another financially oriented attack on Trump, this time leveled by Mitt Romney. Of course Mitt tried to make his effort appear to be fatherly advice from a candidate that’s been there before.
He called on all the GOP candidates to release their tax returns during an interview on “Your World with Neil Cavuto.” Then Mitt said he thinks there’s a “bombshell” in Trump’s return, and that’s why Trump hasn’t released his IRS forms.
Of course when Romney made the statement neither had Sens. Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio, but no word on hidden explosives in their paperwork.
Taking us back to May 2015 Romney speculated, “Either he's not as anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is, or he hasn't been paying the kind of taxes we would expect him to pay, or perhaps he hasn't been giving money to the vets or to the disabled like he's been telling us he's been doing.”
The disclosure forms have already established Trump’s worth so that’s out. And it would be difficult to give less to charity than Al Gore or John Kerry and yet they received their nominations. Even stranger, one would think Mitt Romney would be the last person to attack someone using tax forms as a weapon.
During Romney’s campaign Sen. Harry Reid repeatedly lied and said Mitt paid no taxes for years, so one would think Romney would be reluctant to imitate the technique. He would have been better served to remain an interested observer on the sidelines.
Besides the persuasive power of tax returns is vastly overrated. Jeb Bush released 33 years of returns just days after entering the race and he failed to win a single primary.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker’s bureau. Read more reports from Michael Reagan — Go Here Now.