Donald Trump says Mitt Romney was ‘ungrateful’ for help in 2012
Donald Trump says he respects Mitt Romney and would be willing to meet with the former GOP nominee to come to terms following the heated primary season.
But Trump said Sunday he hasn’t felt much gratitude from Romney, who has derided the likely 2016 nominee’s candidacy, for the help he lent during the 2012 campaign.
“What happened is I was rough on Mitt because I didn’t think they treated me properly,” Trump told NBC’s Chuck Todd on Meet the Press, explaining the two men’s intra-party feud.
“I helped him, really helped him,” Trump said of Romney, who he endorsed in 2012. “Gave him a lot of money. Helped him with robocalls. Every single robocall I made, he won that state. Every single speech I made, he won the state, in terms of the primaries.”
According to reports at the time, Trump recorded robocalls for Romney in Michigan, made surrogate radio appearances for him in Ohio, and held a fundraiser for the former Massachusetts governor at his hotel in Las Vegas. Romney did ultimately win Michigan, Ohio, and Nevada during the 2012 Republican primaries.
Trump said he was willing to help in the 2012 general election in November, but the Romney campaign never asked.
“If I would have been asked to help him in Florida, you saw what I did in Florida,” Trump said Sunday. “I won in a landslide. I would have helped him. I certainly could have gotten him over the ledge.”
However, Trump did also record robocalls for the Romney campaign right before the general election in Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, according to multiple reports. Romney lost three of those four states, including Florida.
Trump added Sunday that he thought he helped Romney win five states he would’ve otherwise lost in the primaries, though he did not specifically mention which ones. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond Sunday to requests for clarification on that point.
Asked by Todd if he thought Romney had been “ungrateful” for his aid, Trump said yes.
“He was,” Trump said. “He was ungrateful. Which is OK. A lot of people are ungrateful. But he was ungrateful. He did not—they did not respond accordingly. And that’s OK.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com