This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
[Updated: 11:07 a.m.]
Remember that goofy boxing match Mitt Romney was part of?
The gloves are off now.
| The Salt Lake Tribune
"Mitt Romney is now an anybody-but-Donald-Trump Republican, warning that the front-runner for the GOP nomination would be disastrous for his party and the nation.
"He ripped Trump and praised his three rivals in a highly anticipated speech Thursday morning at the University of Utah.
" 'We face another time for choices that will have profound consequences for our party and our country,' Romney said, labeling Trump 'a con man and a fake.'
" 'Here's what I know. Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud,' Romney added. 'He's playing the American public for suckers. He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat.' ..."
That bout with Evander Holyfield was for charity. No matter what one may think of Mr. 47 Percent, this one's for the country.
— Utah's Republicans should take a stand on Trump — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial
" ... It is time for Utah's GOP leaders also to weigh in on Trump as their party's standard-bearer. Are Donald Trump's values, is the Trump style, reflective of Republicans in one of the most red of red states?
"To remain silent is, at best, to spinelessly acquiesce. At worst, to tacitly affirm. ..."
Also:
— Mitt Romney Should Be Apologizing for Donald Trump — Joan Walsh | The Nation
"In 2012, Trump was to Romney what David Duke is now for Trump—a conduit to Obama-hating white voters. ..."
— The time is now to disavow — Washington Post Editorial
"Even as Donald Trump attempted to tone himself down Tuesday night, he could not help underlining why he is such a menace. 'I'm going to get along with [House Speaker Paul D. Ryan],' Trump said. 'And if I don't, he's going to have to pay a big price.'
"Ryan (Wisconsin) should make a down payment right now. He and other Republican leaders ought to make clear that they will not "get along" with a man who, from the beginning of his campaign, has profited from voter prejudice and hatred. They should reject his authoritarian assault on American democracy...."
— A GOP trapped by Trump — E.J. Dionne | The Washington Post
"WASHINGTON • The Republican Party is on the verge of being taken over by an egomaniac who appeals to the nation's darkest impulses. Yet Donald Trump's foes are splintered, tactically but also philosophically. ..."
— Republicans need to choose: Morality or bigotry? — Dana Milbank | The Washington Post
" ... I have for months urged Republicans to call Trump the bigot and racist he is, and I've noted his similarities in style and substance to Mussolini. But Republicans failed to unify against Trump when it could have made a difference, and now they have a likely nominee who: approvingly quotes Mussolini; tries to discredit a federal judge by invoking ethnicity; reacts to a demonstrator by saying "I'd like to punch him in the face"; taunts other protesters by asking, "Are you from Mexico?"; declares that he is going to change free-speech laws to make it easier for him to sue news organizations; and refuses requests by the Anti-Defamation League and others to distance himself from white supremacists. ..."
— Trump is a threat to American democracy — Lawrence H. Summers | Special To The Washington Post
"While comparisons between Donald Trump and Mussolini or Hitler are overwrought, Trump's rise does illustrate how democratic processes can lose their way and turn toxic when there is intense economic frustration and widespread apprehension about the future. This is especially the case when some previously respected leaders scurry to make peace in a new order — yes, Chris Christie, I mean you. ..."
— Examining Donald Trump — Dan Liljenquist | For The Deseret News
" ... Sadly, many of the Trump supporters today were the tea party faithful of yesterday, courageous souls who were willing to throw off the chains of complacency, eschew the fleshpots of political power and patronage, and seek to chart a new course, hoping to return themselves and their country to the promised land of limited, constitutional governance. But progress has stalled without a beloved, clear-eyed political Moses to help coalesce the movement, to teach enduring principles and to lead the way back to Canaan. Into this milieu, Trump has arrived like the golden calf, promising protection and prosperity, platitudes and possibilities. Many are now sacrificing their principles at the Trump altar, hoping that he will somehow save them. ..."
— The real reason the media covers Donald Trump so much — Matthew Yglesias | Vox
" ... The media covers Trump a lot because Trump's campaign is fascinating and people are interested in it. ..."
— Trump supporters rage against the present — Steve Chapman | The Chicago Tribune (via Standard.net)
" ... On these and other matters, Trump's supporters have been losing, year in and year out. That's not the fault of corrupt Washington insiders or cowardly politicians or weak leadership. They have been losing because the majority of Americans have considered their views and rejected them. ..."
— Researchers have found strong evidence that racism helps the GOP win — Max Ehrenfreund | WonkBlog | The Washington Post
" ... In the South, it seems, old prejudices have persisted. Southern counties that had more slaves on the eve of the Civil War are distinct from their neighbors: White residents in those areas are more hostile toward African Americans and they are more likely to vote Republican today, new research shows. Drawing on archival Census figures and recent polls, the study adds to an expanding body of evidence on the importance of racial anxiety to the predominantly white Republican coalition. ..."
— After Super Tuesday, Bracing for a President Trump — Nicholas Kristof | The New York Times
" ... Trump has shrewdly manipulated the news media and has proved a much more accurate reader of the electorate than we pundits. Yet I've never met a national politician so ill informed, so evasive, so bombastic and, frankly, so puerile. ..."
— Donald Trump Is Just Barely On Track To Win The GOP Nomination — Aaron Bycoffe | FiveThirtyEight