Ramaswamy, Trump campaigns punch back after Mitt Romney says he’d vote Democrat before them

On Tuesday, Donald Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy responded to Mitt Romney's statement that he would rather vote for a Democrat than see either of them in office.

The two presidential candidates slammed Romney for his betrayal of the Republican Party and suggested that in the end, he is too irrelevant for his opinion to matter.

"Turns out he's opposed to America-First itself, not just one man," Ramaswamy said in a statement to Fox News. "Newsflash, Mitt: I didn't vote for you either, and I still call on your niece Ronna [McDaniel] to resign."

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign echoed those sentiments, saying, "Voters aren't going to take advice from a loser and quitter like Mittens."

Romney made his comments in an interview with CBS' Norah O'Donnell on Monday.

When asked who he liked in the Republican field, the Utah senator initially said "anybody," adding he would be "happy to support any one of the Republicans."

"Maybe not Vivek," he noted after a short pause, "but the others that are running would be acceptable to me." 

Romney went on to suggest that he'd be "happy to vote for a number of the Democrats too," saying they would "be an upgrade from, in my opinion, from Donald Trump, and perhaps also from Joe Biden." 

He then clarified that he actually likes Biden, calling him "a very charming, engaging person."

"In some places, I agree with him, but in most places, I disagree with him," he said of the current president. "I think he has made all sorts of mistakes." 

Romney concluded that in the end, he'd like to see a fresh face lead the Democrats.

This is not the first time the Utah senator has expressed his dislike for Trump. Before announcing his retirement in September, he said that part of his reason for stepping down was because "we're probably going to have either Trump or Biden as our next president." He said that "Biden is unable to lead on important matters and Trump is unwilling to lead on important matters."

The former president is no fan of Romney either; he said the retirement is "fantastic news for America, the great state of Utah, and for the Republican Party."