--- description: Mitt Romney will call Donald Trump a "phony" and "fraud" in a speech Thursday aimed at convincing Republican to reject the GOP frontrunner title: Donald Trump: Mitt Romney to Challenge GOP Frontrunner image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81e203e34877a813/698880185f570f7529b1fe2c/mitt-romney-speech-donald-trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Romney to Take Aim at 'Phony' Trump in Speech  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 3, 2016 12:42 PM CUT  Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney addresses the crowd during a rally for Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan on Nov. 3, 2014 in Anchorage, Alaska. Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney addresses the crowd during a rally for Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan on Nov. 3, 2014 in Anchorage, Alaska.David Ryder—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 3, 2016 12:42 PM CUT Mitt Romney will call Donald Trump a “phony” and “fraud” in a [speech](http://time.com/4245127/mitt-romney-trump-2016-speech-utah/ "undefined") Thursday aimed at convincing Republicans to reject the GOP presidential frontrunner, according to [reports](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/mitt-romney-trump-speech-220167 "undefined"). “Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud,” Romney will say. “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.” The speech—to be held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City at 11:30 a.m. ET—comes as a slew of [establishment Republicans take aim](http://time.com/4245673/donald-trump-republican-plan-stop/ "undefined") at Trump’s candidacy. Several groups opposed to Trump’s candidacy have poured millions into a last-ditch effort to change the direction of the campaign in recent days. Romney has previously [challenged Trump on Twitter](http://time.com/4237647/donald-trump-mitt-romney-twitter-taxes/ "undefined"), calling on him to release his tax returns and condemning Trump’s reluctance to condemn the KKK. Romney will also take on Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton in the speech, calling her “untrustworthy and dishonest.” John Kasich, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are the only remaining candidates for president with reasonable policy positions, Romney will say. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4246148/mitt-romney-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4246148/mitt-romney-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Romney to Take Aim at 'Phony' Trump in Speech","datePublished":"2016-03-03T12:42:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:35:13.631Z","description":"'Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud'","url":"https://time.com/4246148/mitt-romney-donald-trump/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81e203e34877a813/698880185f570f7529b1fe2c/mitt-romney-speech-donald-trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81e203e34877a813/698880185f570f7529b1fe2c/mitt-romney-speech-donald-trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mitt Romney Donald Trump","caption":"Mitt Romney Donald Trump","creditText":"David Ryder—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4246148/mitt-romney-donald-trump/","name":"Romney to Take Aim at 'Phony' Trump in Speech"}}]}] ```