Former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is hitting Donald Trump, his party’s current front-runner, over not releasing tax information the former Massachusetts governor says voters have a right to see.
“We have good reason to believe that there’s a bombshell in Donald Trump’s taxes,” Romney told Fox News on Wednesday, also calling out by name Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio to disclose their tax information as well.
“Either he’s not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is, or he hasn’t been paying taxes we would expect him to pay or perhaps he hasn’t been giving money to vets or to the disabled like he’s been telling us he’s been doing,” Romney added.
Trump’s campaign did not respond to CNN request for reaction to the remarks, but the billionaire businessman tweeted after the interview that Romney is “playing tough guy.”
“Mitt Romney,who totally blew an election that should have been won and whose tax returns made him look like a fool, is now playing tough guy,” Trump tweeted.
The 2012 GOP presidential nominee faced intense scrutiny to release his tax information — most notably by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid — and Romney said that’s exactly why Trump should go ahead and release any information so voters can decide.
“They were all over me for my taxes,” Romney said.
Trump last summer released his personal financial disclosure shortly after announcing his presidential run and has consistently touted the fact that he released his financial numbers ahead of schedule.
Announcing his presidential bid, Trump said he had a financial net worth of $8 billion, a figure he and his accountants later revised to $10 billion when he officially released his personal financial disclosure. Forbes has estimated Trump’s net worth at $4.5 billion, a figure Trump has disputed.
Trump has said that his accountants have begun going through his tax returns, but said it would take some time given that his tax returns are “massive.”
“I have one the world’s most complicated tax returns. It’s a massive return,” Trump said earlier this month on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”