Some members of Trump's inner circle don't like the idea of Romney as Secretary of State

Donald Trump’s top advisor Kellyanne Conway trash-talked the president-elect’s consideration of Mitt Romney for the coveted cabinet position of Secretary of State on CNN Sunday.

Two other Trump loyalists, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have also spoken openly about their view that Romney is untrustworthy.

Conway told CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union Sunday that many of the president-elect’s supporters feel “betrayed” by the decision to consider Romney, who called called Trump a “phony, a fraud.”

“He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat,” Romney said during a speech in Utah in March.

“It’s just breathtaking in scope and intensity the type of messages I’ve received from all over the country,” Conway said on the segment Sunday. “The number of people who feel betrayed to think that Gov. Romney would get the most prominent cabinet post after he went so far out of his way to hurt Donald Trump.”

“I’m all for party unity, but I’m not sure we have to pay for that with the Secretary of State position,” she added.

Behind the scenes, Romney has been going head-to-head with Trump surrogate and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani for the position. Former General David Petraeus and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker are also reportedly in the running.

Republican strategist and political commentator Ana Navarro tweeted that Conway’s public comments were “astounding to hear” but later said during a discussion on CNN that she believes they were part of a “coordinated Trump strategy to put Mitt Romney in his place.”

Conway, who has previously expressed her distaste for the former Massachusetts governor and onetime presidential candidate on Twitter, is not alone in her criticism.

During a phone interview on Fox News Sunday, Gingrich noted that whatever Romney says makes him sound “phony” and “frankly, pathetic.”

“… I think we would be enormously disappointed if he [Trump] brought Mitt into any position of authority,” he added.

Huckabee expressed a similar sentiment during another Fox News’ segment earlier this week, accusing Romney of “savaging” both the president-elect and his supporters.

“I’m still very unhappy that Mitt did everything he could to derail Donald Trump,” Huckabee said Wednesday.

“You have to list out all the things he said and think, ‘Is this guy really gonna be loyal?’” Gingrich asked, during the same segment. “I would suggest there are a lot of other people who are more qualified than Romney in foreign policy and who … have not been as actively hostile as he’s been.”