Back in July, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) penned an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal issuing a call to thin out the Republican presidential primary by a certain date after the early contests so as to deny former and potentially future President Donald Trump the nomination via a plurality. Now, he's going after the second place candidate as well, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Such criticisms are laid out in what looks to be a tell-all biography, "Romney: A Reckoning," as previewed by Thursday's edition of POLITICO Playbook. "There's just no warmth at all," read one excerpt regarding Romney's thoughts on DeSantis, as he also shared his view that DeSantis "looks like he's got a toothache" when it comes to posing for selfies with voters in Iowa.
In another bit, Romney also offered that DeSantis is "much smarter than Trump," but still went on to throw around dramatic language such as "authoritarian."
"You might point out, 'Mitt, DeSantis is real smart--do you want an authoritarian who’s smart or one who’s not smart?' … I realize there’s a peril to having someone who’s smart and pulling in a direction that’s dangerous," Romney offered.
Screenshots of those excerpts quickly spread around X.
Mitt Romney is a childish, petty, vindictive, and broken man. 1) Mitt Romney does not get to assess ANYONE's warmth. 2) DeSantis is an authoritarian? That's just stupid. 3) Reminder that Mitt Romney marched with Hamas-loving BLM. pic.twitter.com/EoBXBtWKI4
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) October 19, 2023
From @playbookdc, another preview of the new Mitt Romney biography, in which Romney, consumed with old resentments, appears to dump on everyone who ever ran against him. https://t.co/0eYO0y1Ekt pic.twitter.com/M7DoHf3Z3q
— Byron York (@ByronYork) October 19, 2023
Mitt Romney warns that @RonDeSantis is “dangerous” and “authoritarian”, presumably because he has enacted conservative policy instead of just talking about it. pic.twitter.com/c8VPfvGTGK
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 19, 2023
While Romney's thoughts on DeSantis are what's gaining attention, Romney also looks to have it out for Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), former Vice President Mike Pence, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), former Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), former Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), former Gov. John Kasich (R-OH).
For what it's worth, Gingrich, Huckabee, Santorum, and Perry all challenged Romney for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Although they all lost to Romney, he went on to lose to President Barack Obama.
The DeSantis War Room X account seemed to take it in stride. And, as our sister sites of RedState and Twitchy pointed out in their coverage, people have such strong feelings about Romney, that he may just have endorsed DeSantis in a way.
Romney, 76, is himself retiring. He made the announcement last month that he would not be running for reelection in the Senate.