In an unexpected development, former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has demanded that Donald Trump release his tax returns, asserting that he suspects a “bombshell” in the documents.
And Trump, the Republican front-runner, wasted little time to heap abuse on Romney, calling him a “dope”, a “fool” and the “worst candidate in the history of Republican politics”.
Romney, who was expected to endorse Senator Marco Rubio last week, said in an interview to Fox News on Wednesday that all the Republican candidates must release their tax returns.
Much of his focus, however, was on Trump. “The reason I think there’s a bombshell in there is because every time he (Trump) is asked about his taxes, he dodges and delays and says ‘well, we’re working on it’. Hey, we’re not talking about the taxes that are coming due this year… We’re talking about taxes that already filed,” he said.
Saying “there’s something” in Trump’s tax papers, Romney commented: “Either he’s not 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.”
A multimillionaire businessman in his own right, Romney recalled how critics made the release of his own tax returns a major issue in his 2012 campaign, adding: “That’s why I’m so sensitive to it.”
It remained to be seen if Rubio and Cruz pile on Trump on the tax issue at Thursday night’s crucial Republican debate, ahead of the ‘Super Tuesday’ primaries in 12 States on March 1.
Soon after Romney’s interview, Trump took to Twitter, posting a series of tweets in which he called Romney a “fool” who lost a winnable race against President Obama in 2012.
In one tweet, he said: “Mitt Romney, who totally blew an election that should have been won and whose tax returns made him look like a fool, is now playing tough guy.”
“When Mitt Romney asked me for my endorsement last time around, he was so awkward and goofy that we all should have known he could not win!” Trump commented in another.