Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has labelled the party's 2016 White House front runner Donald Trump a "phony" in an astonishing attack.
In a speech at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, the former Massachusetts Governor urged party members to shun the real estate billionaire.
Panicky Republican leaders are belatedly trying to kneecap Mr Trump's march to the presidential nomination because they believe the political newcomer will wreck their party.
Mr Romney's deeply personal attack is extremely rare in a political establishment that usually observes Ronald Reagan's golden rule: "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."
"Here's what I know," said Mr Romney in Salt Lake City on Thursday, "Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud.
"He's playing the American public for suckers,” he added.
Mr Romney - who is not running for the White House this time - also sought to undermine Mr Trump's success story.
"A business genius he is not," he said.
He said a win for Mr Trump at the Republican convention in Cleveland in July would gift Democrat Hillary Clinton the keys to the White House.
Mr Romney said Mr Trump, who has courted controversy with remarks against women, Muslims and Mexicans, "has neither the temperament nor the judgement to be president".
Mr Trump earlier dismissed Mr Romney as "a stiff" who "didn't know what he was doing" as the party's candidate in 2012.
The tycoon has just released a seven-point healthcare plan, but Mr Romney said the only serious policy proposals have come from the other Republican candidates, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich.
Mr Romney's speech also claimed Mr Trump's "domestic policies would lead to recession".
He said Mr Trump's "foreign policies would make America and the world less safe" and his "personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill".
On Thursday, more than 70 national security experts - including former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff - said Mr Trump was unfit to be commander in chief.
Mr Trump won victories in seven states on Super Tuesday, with Texas Senator Mr Cruz claiming three states and Florida Senator Mr Rubio winning just one.
Party strategists have warned 15 March, Florida's primary, is the last opportunity to stop Mr Trump through the normal path of winning states and collecting delegates.
Mr Romney's speech is certain to come up when the Republican candidates face off in a prime-time debate on Thursday night.
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