Mitt Romney piles on: 'Donald Trump fired before aiming'
Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Tuesday added his voice to the swelling chorus of Republicans denouncing Donald Trump's plan to ban Muslims from coming to the US.
In a tweet, Romney criticized the Republican presidential front-runner's proposal and backed House Speaker Paul Ryan's (R-Wisconsin) comments earlier on Tuesday.
"On Muslims, @realDonaldTrump fired before aiming," Romney wrote.
In contrast, Romney added, Ryan "is on target." He included a link to the speaker addressing Trump's plan.
Trump unveiled his plan on Monday afternoon. He cited the recent Islamic State-linked attack in Paris that left 130 dead last month, as well as last week's mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, that left 14 dead and was also linked to the Islamic State group (also known as ISIS.)
"Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine," Trump said.
He continued: "Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life."
Appearing at a press conference on Tuesday, Ryan broke with his policy not to comment specifically on the 2016 Republican nominating contest.
"This is not conservatism," Ryan said. "What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for, and more importantly, it's not what this country stands for."
He continued: "I told our members this morning to always strive to live up to our highest ideals, to uphold those principles in the Constitution on which we swear every two years that we will defend. That's why we are here and that is why we are going to stay here and do the people's work."