Never Trump movement


The Never Trump movement is a conservative political movement that opposes Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States, and Trumpism, in general, supports a putative return to a more rules-based internationalist, traditionally conservative Republican Party. The name originates from how much of a possibility there was that the party's adherents could be "persuaded to vote for Trump in the 2016 general election".
It is generally made up of "long-standing, professional Republicans or conservatives", donors, consultants, operatives, writers and commentators, as well as Republican officeholders. Many of the last group have abandoned the cause and journeyed to Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago to "kiss the ring" or "bend the knee", as rank and file support for Trump has remained strong, and his takeover of the Republican Party has been consolidated. The movement began as an effort on the part of a group of Republicans and other prominent conservatives to prevent Republican front-runner Trump from obtaining the 2016 Republican Party presidential nomination, and after he was nominated, from winning the 2016 United States presidential election. Following his victory, remaining adherents worked to foil his re-election in 2020, and then his return in 2024. With his second presidential election victory in 2024, the New York Times described Republican dissenters as having "been driven into retirement, defeated in primaries or cowed into silence". Many "Never Trumpers" belong to The Lincoln Project.
Early in its existence, the movement was compared to the Mugwumps, Republicans in the 1884 United States presidential election who refused to back party nominee James G. Blaine and instead threw support for Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland. Trump himself has condemned the movement as "more dangerous for our country than the do nothing Democrats" and has described its supporters as "human scum".

Complaints

A 2020 book review in National Review magazine
listed as motivators of conservative opponents Trump's
  • character
  • * a "long record of betraying everyone who trusted him";
  • * "his rhetoric that legitimated many of the worst false things that conservatism’s critics had said for years;
  • lack of qualifications or knowledge;
  • a lack of any record of supporting conservative ideas or causes.
As of late 2024 another list of what turned conservatives against Trump included:

History

Besides Trump's election victories, setbacks for his opponents have included the grassroots Republican support for the January 6 insurrectionists and Nikki Haley's withdrawal from the presidential campaign in early 2024.

2016 election

Trump entered the Republican primaries on June 16, 2015, at a time when governors Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and Senator Marco Rubio were viewed as early frontrunners. Trump was considered a longshot to win the nomination, but his large media profile gave him a chance to spread his message and appear in the Republican debates. By the end of 2015, Trump was leading the Republican field in national polls. At this point, some Republicans, such as former Mitt Romney adviser Alex Castellanos, called for a "negative ad blitz" against Trump, and another former Romney aide founded Our Principles PAC to attack Trump.
After Trump won the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, many Republican leaders called for the party to unite around a single leader to stop Trump's nomination. The Never Trump movement gained momentum following Trump's wins in the March 15, 2016, Super Tuesday primaries, including his victory over Rubio in Florida.

Erickson meeting

On March 17, 2016, anti-Trump conservatives met at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C., to discuss strategies for preventing Trump from securing the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in July. Among the strategies discussed were a "unity ticket", a possible third-party candidate and a contested convention, especially if Trump did not gain the 1,237 delegates necessary to secure the nomination.
The meeting was organized by Erick Erickson, Bill Wichterman and Bob Fischer. Around two dozen people attended. Consensus was reached that Trump's nomination could be prevented and that efforts would be made to seek a unity ticket, possibly comprising Cruz and Ohio governor John Kasich.

Trump success in 2016 primaries

The candidates did not unite and Trump continued to win primaries. After Senator Ted Cruz dropped out of the race following Trump's primary victory in Indiana on May 3, 2016, Trump became the presumptive nominee while internal opposition to Trump remained as the process pivoted towards a general election.
Following unsuccessful attempts by some delegates at the Republican National Convention to block his nomination, Trump became the Republican Party's 2016 nominee for president on July 18, 2016. Some members of the Never Trump movement endorsed other candidates in the general election, such as Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, independent conservative Evan McMullin and American Solidarity Party nominee Mike Maturen.

Efforts to stop nomination of Trump

By political organizations

and Club for Growth were involved in trying to prevent Trump's nomination. Our Principles PAC spent more than $13 million on advertising attacking Trump. The Club for Growth spent $11 million in an effort to prevent Trump from becoming the Republican Party's nominee.

By Republican delegates

In June 2016, activists Eric O'Keefe and Dane Waters formed a group called Delegates Unbound, which CNN described as "an effort to convince delegates that they have the authority and the ability to vote for whomever they want". The effort involved the publication of a book titled Unbound: The Conscience of a Republican Delegate by Republican delegates Curly Haugland and Sean Parnell. The book argues that "delegates are not bound to vote for any particular candidate based on primary and caucus results, state party rules, or even state law".
Republican delegates Kendal Unruh and Steve Lonegan led an effort among fellow Republican delegates to change the convention rules "to include a 'conscience clause' that would allow delegates bound to Trump to vote against him, even on the first ballot at the July convention". Unruh described the effort as "an 'Anybody but Trump' movement". Unruh's efforts started with a conference call on June 16 "with at least 30 delegates from 15 states". Regional coordinators for the effort were recruited in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Washington and other states. By June 19, hundreds of delegates to the Republican National Convention calling themselves Free the Delegates had begun raising funds and recruiting members in support of an effort to change party convention rules to free delegates to vote however they want, instead of according to the results of state caucuses and primaries. Unruh, a member of the convention's Rules Committee and one of the group's founders, planned to propose adding the "conscience clause" to the convention's rules, effectively unhinging pledged delegates. She needed 56 other supporters from the 112-member panel, which determines precisely how Republicans select their nominee in Cleveland. The Rules Committee instead voted 87–12 to adopt rules requiring delegates to vote based on their states' primary and caucus results.

By individuals

At a luncheon in February 2016 attended by Republican governors and donors, Karl Rove discussed the danger of Trump's securing the Republican nomination by July, and that it might be possible to stop him but there was not much time left.
Early in March 2016, Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, directed some of his advisors to look at ways to stop Trump from obtaining the nomination at the Republican National Convention. Romney also gave a major speech urging voters to vote for the Republican candidate most likely to prevent Trump from acquiring delegates in state primaries. A few weeks later, Romney announced that he would vote for Ted Cruz in the Utah GOP caucuses. On his Facebook page, he posted: "Today, there is a contest between Trumpism and Republicanism. Through the calculated statements of its leader, Trumpism has become associated with racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence. I am repulsed by each and every one of these". Nevertheless, Romney said early on he would "support the Republican nominee", though he did not "think that's going to be Donald Trump".
Senator Lindsey Graham shifted from opposing both Ted Cruz and Trump to eventually supporting Cruz as a better alternative to Trump. Commenting about Trump, Graham said: "I don't think he's a Republican, I don't think he's a conservative, I think his campaign's built on xenophobia, race-baiting and religious bigotry. I think he'd be a disaster for our party and as Senator Cruz would not be my first choice, I think he is a Republican conservative who I could support". After Trump became the presumptive nominee in May, Graham announced he would not be supporting Trump in the general election, stating: " cannot, in good conscience, support Donald Trump because I do not believe he is a reliable Republican conservative nor has he displayed the judgment and temperament to serve as Commander in Chief". Over the course of the Trump presidency, however, Graham became one of Trump's most ardent supporters in the Senate.
In October 2016, some individuals made third-party vote trading mobile applications and websites to help stop Trump. For example, a Californian who supported Clinton would instead vote for Jill Stein in exchange for a Stein supporter in a swing state voting for Clinton. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the 2007 case Porter v. Bowen established vote trading as a First Amendment right.
Republican former presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush both refused to support Trump in the general election, with the elder Bush reportedly voting for Trump's rival Hillary Clinton.