Mitt Romney: Donald Trump ‘a fraud and phoney’

Donald Trump has come under attack from former US presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who urged fellow Republicans to shun the property tycoon for the good of the country and party.

Mr Romney, who was soundly defeated by President Barack Obama in his 2012 re-election, joins a growing chorus of anxious Republican leaders that many Trump supporters see as establishment figures.

“Here’s what I know: Donald Trump is a phoney, a fraud,” Mr Romney said in a speech.

Mr Romney claimed a Trump nomination at the party’s convention in July would enable Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the presidency.

Mr Romney also said Mr Trump “has neither the temperament nor the judgement to be president”.

Mr Trump disparaged Mr Romney in a series of tweets, including “I am not a Mitt Romney, who doesn’t know how to win.”

Panicked Republican leaders say they still have options for preventing Mr Trump from winning the nomination, just not many good ones. They include a contested convention and even the long-shot prospect of a third-party option.

Dozens of conservative national security experts have warned that Mr Trump is unfit to be commander in chief. Former homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff and more than 70 others called Mr Trump’s “embrace of the expansive use of torture” inexcusable.

They also object to what they say is Mr Trump’s “hateful, anti-Muslim rhetoric” and his advocacy for waging trade wars.

Mr Trump has 316 delegates so far, Texas Senator Ted Cruz 226 and Florida senator Marco Rubio, 106. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the party nomination.

Meanwhile, Former Mexican president Vicente Fox is standing by his comparison of Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, saying the Republican presidential front-runner “believes in the white supremacy.”