Weicker: Donald Trump a bigoted ‘con artist’

Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. speaks during an interview at his home in Old Lyme, Conn., Aug. 5, 2014. Weicker served as Governor of Connecticut (1991-1995), was a U.S. Senator (1971-1989), and a U.S. Representative (1969-1971). He was also First Selectman for the Town of Greenwich, his former hometown. less Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. speaks during an interview at his home in Old Lyme, Conn., Aug. 5, 2014. Weicker served as Governor of Connecticut (1991-1995), was a U.S. Senator (1971-1989), and a U.S. Representative ... more Photo: Ned Gerard / Ned Gerard Buy photo Photo: Ned Gerard / Ned Gerard Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Weicker: Donald Trump a bigoted ‘con artist’ 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Former Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. says Donald Trump, who once referred to him as a “fat slob,” is everything that is wrong with the Republican Party.

The GOP cast-off, who exchanged barbs with Trump over a proposed Bridgeport casino in 1993, dismissed the mogul’s sustained momentum in the presidential race during an interview Monday.

Trump’s lead in both national polls and in bellwether states such as Iowa and New Hampshire, Weicker said, shows the weakness of the rest of the Republican field.

“I think the man is a total con artist,” Weicker, 84, told Hearst Connecticut Media. “Maybe it’s a reflection of the Republican Party more than Donald Trump, if it allows any nut case like Trump to make it as if he was a valid presidential candidate. The party has drifted.”

Trump’s campaign declined to comment.

Prior to Weicker’s estrangement from the GOP, he served in both the U.S. House and Senate, as well as first selectman of his former hometown of Greenwich. Weicker, who successfully ran for governor in 1990 under the banner of A Connecticut Party, now resides in Old Lyme.

J.R. Romano, the head of the Connecticut GOP, said Weicker is hardly one to talk, having instituted the state income tax in 1991.

“It’s good to know that Lowell Weicker is still clueless,” Romano said. “Donald Trump has tapped into the angst and anger that many Americans feel toward politicians like Lowell Weicker. I’m not saying that I agree with him or that he’s going to be the nominee.”

Weicker’s contempt for Trump goes back 22 years when Trump wanted to expand his casino empire to Bridgeport, which the former Republican opposed.

At the time, Weicker told Trump the state had already entered into a compact with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to build what is now Foxwoods Resort Casino. But Trump challenged the tribal recognition process, with the Hartford Courant quoting him as telling a U.S. House subcommittee, “They don’t look like Indians to me.”

Weicker fired back that Trump was a “dirtbag” and a “bigot” in a television interview with WFSB Channel 3.

On Monday, Weicker said Trump’s generalization about Mexican immigrants being drug traffickers and rapists is consistent with his previous prejudicial statements.

“The man’s a disgrace. But the Republican Party is a disgrace,” Weicker said. “If I were a Democrat, I’d hope for nothing more than Donald Trump to become the candidate. Do I want an American president to identify with prejudice toward different minority groups? I certainly don’t.”

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