Former President Trump said Tuesday fellow GOP candidates “eat their young” by working with Republicans like former Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) and Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) to attempt to thwart Trump’s presidential run.
“If [Romney] and RINO Paul fought as hard against Obama as they do against President Donald J. Trump, they would never have lost,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform. Trump often uses “RINO,” or “Republican in Name Only,” as an insult toward more moderate members of his party.
“But remember, Republicans ‘Eat Their Young,’ and that’s the problem with so many in our Party,” Trump continued. “They go after the people who are on their side, rather than the Radical Left Democrats that are DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY.”
“These are LOSERS, and the Republican Nation must stop following their failed ideas and policies. They only help Crooked Joe Biden!”
Trump, who is the leading GOP candidate for president in 2024, attacked the 2012 GOP presidential ticket following reporting that the duo was hosting four other 2024 candidates for president at their summit in Utah, as part of efforts to narrow down the field and find a viable Republican alternative to Trump.
The summit, slated to begin Tuesday, will also feature remarks from two other vocal Trump critics: former Attorney General Bill Barr and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), according to Axios.
The four candidates featured in the summit are North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence.
They are all positioning themselves as potential foils to Trump in the race, but only Haley has seen a significant rise in polls with early primaries a few months away, though she remains far behind Trump, who she served under as U.N. ambassador.
Burgum has largely avoided criticizing Trump, touting his background as a self-made entrepreneur and successful governor, while Christie has attacked Trump at nearly every opportunity, both on cable television and the campaign trail.
Haley and Pence have pursued a middle-road strategy, criticizing Trump on policy positions without emphasizing the legal issues he faces or his efforts to stay in office after losing the 2020 presidential election.
However, Trump maintains a large lead in most polls, and other candidates have struggled to make a dent — which Trump highlighted in his recent social posts.
“I understand Candidates that are losing by 57 to 70 Points are getting together with RINO Paul RINO, Mitt ‘The Loser’ Romney, Bill ‘No Guts or Talent’ Barr, and some broken political ‘investors’ that will soon come to me, as most others already have,” Trump wrote in his post Tuesday.
“These failed Candidates should have started by campaigning effectively, which they didn’t because they don’t have the skill or the talent! Romney, who today couldn’t get elected ‘dogcatcher’ in the Great State of Utah, should have beaten an absolutely failed first term Obama,” he added.