Mitt Romney to Speak Thursday on the State of the 2016 Race

Mitt Romney will give a major speech tomorrow at the University of Utah, where he is expected to lay out his case against Donald Trump and talk about where he thinks the party is headed if the current course continues. Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, has yet to endorse a candidate and is not expected to on this occasion, but he has recently been very vocal about his displeasure with the current GOP front-runner.

Via Bloomberg:

With Trump’s convincing victories on Tuesday, the single biggest day of voting in the Republican race, Romney was motivated to make a more formal case against him in hopes of keeping him from coalescing more support, according to a Republican source familiar with Romney’s plans. Romney has voiced criticism for Trump in recent months, including his attack last week on the New York businessman’s refusal to release his tax returns.

Romney doesn’t believe Trump is the right person to lead the party, the Republican source said. A number of mainstream Republicans are falling in line with Trump, and Romney wants to speak up before more people go that route, the source said.

While making the case against Trump at the Hinckley Institute of Politics Student Forum at the University of Utah, Romney will not endorse one of his opponents, two people familiar with the former Massachusetts governor’s plans said. Romney will, however, praise Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and Ohio Governor John Kasich. Romney’s comments will be focused on “the state of the race,” likely echoing past criticism of Trump for failing to release his tax returns, and not decisively distancing himself from the Ku Klux Klan.

He’s going to talk about where he sees this race, where he sees it headed, the choices facing the Republican party and the country. He’ll also talk about what he thinks the direction of the party might be if the current course continues.