It was an extraordinary moment Thursday: Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, leading a Dump Trump revolt.

“Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud,” Romney announced. “He’s playing the members of the American public for suckers.”

In a speech at the University of Utah he not only called Trump a terrible candidate who would lose to Hillary Clinton, but a terrible example.

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“The bullying. The Greed. The showing off … The absurd third-grade theatrics.”

Of course, Romney knew Trump would fire back.

“Watch, by the way, how he responds to my speech today,” Romney predicted.

And Trump did respond during a speech in Maine &#8211 actually sounding hurt &#8211 because he donated to Romney.

“You help somebody, and then he turns,” a “hurt” Trump said. “I will say this … He probably had a right to turn because nobody could have been nastier than me in getting him not to run.”

But the contrition didn’t last long. About Romney asking him for money: “I could have said, ‘Mitt, drop to your knees.’ He would have dropped to his knees.”

In fact, he said he held a big fundraiser at his home for Romney on a rainy day and everybody walked in with wet shoes on his beautiful carpet.

“This carpet was wiped out, and nobody thanked me for the carpet. Hey, maybe I can send Mitt a billed for carpet ruined,” Trump said.

And by the time Trump got to Detroit for last night’s debate he was already dismissing Romney.

“He was a failed candidate … He should have beaten President Obama,” Trump said. “And I guess he wants to be relevant, he wants to be back in the game.

If I were to make a prediction I would say Trump will stay in the race and Mitt Romney is going to get a backdated bill for a wet carpet.