Leading Republican strategist and Ted Cruz supporter Kellyanne Conway has come out swinging at Mitt Romney, saying the former Massachusetts governor's trashing of Donald Trump was wrong and could help Hillary Clinton get elected president.
Conway, head of the Cruz-backing super PAC "Keep the Promise," told Breitbart News Daily that efforts by Romney and the GOP establishment to stop its presidential front-runner from winning enough delegates to clinch the nomination will backfire.
"Here's the deal. They're going to give us Hillary Clinton. Why? Because if you mistreat Donald Trump — sure, he signed the [Republican loyalty] pledge, but that's a two-way street. He said if he's treated well and fairly, he won't run third party," Conway told Breitbart's Stephen Bannon.
On Thursday, Romney — who failed in his bid to unseat President Barack Obama in 2012 — launched an unprecedented attack on Trump as a "phony" and a "fraud."
If that causes the billionaire developer to quit the GOP and run as a third-party independent, taking his millions of supporters with him, it will boost Clinton's chances and be a disaster for Republicans, Conway believes.
"If you have a Clinton who can't get 50 percent but can get in the 40s, if you have a Republican who cannot get the support of the full party … and then you have a third party, you give the election to Hillary Clinton. Bill Clinton won in 1992 with less than 50 percent of the vote," Conway said.
Romney emphasized that in tearing into Trump he's not jumping into the race himself, but political analysts believe that if a delegate split triggers a brokered GOP convention that Romney would agree to be drafted to save the day.
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