Last week, Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney rocketed himself back into relevancy as he publicly urged the nation to prevent a Donald Trump presidency.

The former Massachusetts governor attacked every angle of Trump’s candidacy, condemning everything from his “third-grade theatrics” to his dishonesty. Four years ago, Mitt Romney was a nightmare for the Democrats. Now, he deserves their praise.

Romney should be pleased with Super Saturday’s results. Trump lost to Senator Ted Cruz in Maine and Kansas, and narrowly escaped with victories in Kentucky and Louisiana. Although, to some, Cruz’s platform is just as concerning as Trump’s, on Saturday we learned that Trump can be slowed down.

Of course, it’s likely that he’ll finish the primaries as the Grand Old Party representative for the presidency, but he won’t run away with the race as many previously thought. As of Sunday, Trump holds an 87-delegate lead over second-place Cruz. It’s unclear if Saturday’s polls can be attributed to Romney’s criticism of Trump, but the comments grabbed headlines, if nothing else.

Romeny isn’t the only one pushing voters to beware of the businessman. Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain have publicly denounced Trump’s antics, while comedian Louis C.K. released an email this weekend imploring the public to make an educated choice in the primaries. He noted that “it was funny for a little while” as most of the public seemingly believed, but the realization that he’s a serious contender is now being realized. 

Any denouncement of Trump is welcome, but something seemed particularly shocking about Romney’s comments. In my opinion, even Pope Francis’ criticism of Trump didn’t seem as potent. Four years ago, Mitt Romney was the poster child of the GOP and the only thing in the way of Obama serving a second term. Today, Romney is holding together the Republican party in an attempt to prevent potentially one of the most disastrous choices in the GOP’s history.

Trump’s retort to Romney was as expected: He rebuked Romney’s loss to Obama in 2012, calling him a failed candidate. He went on to say that Romney would have “dropped to his knees” had he asked him to. What else should we come to expect but crass statements and unprofessionalism from one of our nation’s leading presidential candidates?

We can only hope that the rest of the world is watching more than just Trump, and that they realize that much of the nation is frightened by his lack of concrete plans and disgruntled followers. Romney’s scathing speech is several months too late, but his words will hopefully change the course of the primaries and push the GOP to find an alternative candidate.

Lucas Misera is a columnist for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].