Despite that, the two men met earlier this week and Trump said Romney looks like he came out of “central casting” for the role, according to the New York Times. Meanwhile, former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway tweeted on Thanksgiving Day that she was “Receiving deluge of social media & private comms re: Romney.” A cadre of longtime Trump boosters joined the pile-on, including Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich, and Fox Business host Lou Dobbs. Trump insiders anonymously told The Daily Mail that they may demand an apology from Romney. Even conspiracy theorist radio host Alex Jones got in on it, sending Trump an impassioned message on his Thanksgiving Day broadcast:

“This is letting the vampire in,” Jones said…

For his part, Romney has stayed far away from the media fray––basically taking an approach that is the opposite of Giuliani’s. He isn’t doing cable news interviews, he isn’t tweeting, and his staffers aren’t returning reporters’ requests for comment on the foofaraw. Ryan Williams, a former campaign spokesman for Romney, said this is classic Mitt.

“Mitt is a man of great integrity and class,” Williams told The Daily Beast. “I’m not surprised to see that he is staying out of the fray and showing respect to President-elect Trump by letting him reach his own decision.”