GOP voters likely unmoved by Romney’s plea to Trump, polling shows

There’s also evidence that Romney’s influence on Republican voters has waned considerably. This is not the first time that Romney, who during the transition was under consideration to lead the State Department, has lambasted Trump — to little effect.

In March 2016 during the heat of the GOP primary, Romney spoke forcefully against Trump during an address at the University of Utah, calling him a “fraud” and a “phony” and arguing that his “bombast is already alarming our allies and fueling the enmity of our enemies.”

A Morning Consult survey conducted in the days after the speech found that Romney’s criticisms did little to move the needle with the Republican base. Roughly three-quarters of Republican voters said the speech either had no impact on their view of Trump (43 percent) or made them more likely to support him (31 percent), compared with just 20 percent who said they were less likely to support Trump.