Will Romney's 'Eviscerating' Trump Attack Matter?

Mitt Romney let loose on Donald Trump on Thursday, warning that Trump as nominee would be horrible for Republicans and Trump as president would be even worse for the country. "Let me put it plainly, if we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished." Read the full text here via Time. Romney attacks all aspects of Trump, from his temperament and business acumen to his veracity and foreign policy. Some reaction:

• "Mitt Romney is a stiff," Trump said on NBC's Today.
• The speech was "eviscerating," says the New York Times, but "It remained unclear what influence Mr. Romney still has with Republican primary voters who have become increasingly wary of 'establishment' politicians."
• This will actually help Trump, because Romney is "the embodiment of everything Trump has built his entire campaign against," writes Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post. Romney is the establishment.

• John McCain thinks Romney is on the money, calling Trump "uninformed and indeed dangerous," reports the Hill.
• Romney "may be trying to reach a group of Republicans not currently committed to Trump who increasingly say in polls that they might be satisfied with Trump as the nominee," observes the Los Angeles Times. He also might think the party should distance itself from Trump even if it means losing the White House.
• "Romney's proposed strategy is a recipe for denying Trump a majority of delegates, but would likely leave him with more delegates than any other single candidate," writes Eric Levitz at New York. Thus, he's "establishing a rationale for his party to defy the will of its voters this summer."
• "We don’t need Mitt’s views on the state of the Republican Party," writes Adriana Cohen at the Boston Herald. "Sorry, the panic attack is unbecoming and it’s a low blow for democracy. The voters have spoken and Donald Trump is the new face of the GOP."

(More Mitt Romney stories.)