Romney’s rebuke of Trump a little late

It may go down as one of the most surreal moments in Las Vegas history.

That time motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel nearly killed himself jumping the fountains at Caesars Palace? Mere child’s play.

That night the white tiger Montecore took a bite out of master illusionist Roy Horn? Nothing so tame.

For my money, one of the strangest sights ever seen in the admittedly crazy Las Vegas story took place Feb. 2, 2012, at Trump International Hotel, when milk-drinking GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, with dutiful wife Ann at his side, rushed to bask in the political endorsement of blowhard billionaire Donald Trump. Talk about a curveball.

The Romney-Trump 2012 embrace took much of the righteous sting out of Romney’s lively rebuke last week at the University of Utah of now-GOP presidential front-runner Trump. Although the earlier bromance was mentioned in passing, it made Romney’s recent smackdown seem like overkill.

Trump had been talking loudly about a run for office in 2012 and had attracted large crowds for his epithet-laced angry guy speeches. The endorsement not only surprised some in the political press, but it appeared to knock the buttoned-down Romney off balance as well. It didn’t keep him from accepting it.

“Being in Donald Trump’s magnificent hotel and having his endorsement is a delight,” Romney said, although he didn’t exactly appear delighted. “I’m so honored and pleased to have his endorsement. … Donald Trump has shown an extraordinary ability to understand how our economy works to create jobs for the American people. He’s done it here in Nevada. He’s done it across the country.”

Romney enthused, “I spent my life in the private sector. Not quite as successful as this guy. But successful nonetheless.”

Contrast that with last week’s blistering broadside:

“But wait, you say, isn’t he a huge business success that knows what he’s talking about?” Romney asked. “No he isn’t. His bankruptcies have crushed small businesses and the men and women who worked for them. He inherited his business, he didn’t create it. And what ever happened to Trump Airlines? How about Trump University? And then there’s Trump Magazine and Trump Vodka and Trump Steaks and Trump Mortgage? A business genius he is not.”

Perhaps Romney was so dazzled by Trump International that he failed to recognize that attaching himself to Trump’s alarmist rhetoric and reckless reputation as a bankrupted businessman were the last things he needed during his march toward November. Instead, he flashed the awe-shucks grin and graciously accepted the endorsement as if it were 24-karat. Four years later, perhaps out of a sense of guilt, Romney returned to the stage to denounce Trump’s skyrocketing presidential candidacy to its core.

Count me among many who have been wondering where that kind of passion was when Romney was a candidate four years ago. His recent speech, which channeled TV comedian John Oliver’s recent obliteration of Trump, described The Donald as a danger to the economy and on the world stage.

“First, the economy: If Donald Trump’s plans were ever implemented, the country would sink into a prolonged recession,” he said, explaining how his tax proposal would balloon the deficit. “… So even as Donald Trump has offered very few specific economic plans, what little he has said is enough to know that he would be very bad for American workers and for American families.

“… Dishonesty is Donald Trump’s hallmark.”

Now he sees it.

It took him more than four years, but Mitt Romney finally got around to disavowing the Trump’s embrace.

If Romney had used better judgment in 2012, his recent rebuke might have carried greater weight.

John L. Smith’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Contact him at 702 383-0295, or jsmith@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith