Trump backs Romney amid criticism over ‘poor’ gaffe

Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, struggling to recover from remarks that critics said showed indifference to America’s poor, yesterday won the endorsement of real estate mogul Donald Trump.

Trump, who has said he is worth perhaps as much as $7 billion and is himself an on-again/off-again Republican presidential candidate and former member of the party, said he would back Romney in the race for the nomination to oppose President Barack Obama in the November 6 election.

“Mitt is tough, he’s smart, he’s sharp,” Trump said at a news conference at his Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Romney and his wife, Ann, standing to his right. “He’s not going to allow bad things to continue to happen in this country we all love. So, Governor Romney, go out and get ‘em. You can do it.”