Never Trump movement

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The Never Trump movement, also called the #nevertrump, Stop Trump, anti-Trump, or Dump Trump movement,

Never Trump Republicans) and other prominent conservatives to prevent Republican front-runner Donald Trump from obtaining the 2016 Republican Party presidential nomination
.

After he was nominated, this shifted into an effort to prevent him from obtaining the presidency in the 2016 United States presidential election. Trump remained unsupported by 100 percent of Republican members of Congress in the general election.[2] Following Trump's election in November 2016, some in the movement refocused their efforts on defeating Trump in 2020.[3]

Trump entered the Republican primaries on June 16, 2015, at a time when governors Jeb Bush and Scott Walker and Senator Marco Rubio were viewed as early frontrunners.[4] 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.[5][6] By the end of 2015, Trump was leading the Republican field in national polls.[7] At this point, some Republicans, such as former Mitt Romney adviser Alex Castellanos, called for a "negative ad blitz" against Trump[8] and another former Romney aide founded Our Principles PAC to attack Trump.[9]

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.

presumptive nominee while internal opposition to Trump remained as the process pivoted towards a general election.[13]

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.[14][15]

Some have compared the Never Trump movement 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.[16]

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",[17] a possible third-party candidate and a contested convention, especially if Trump did not gain the 1,237 delegates necessary to secure the nomination.[18]

The meeting was organized by

Efforts

By political organizations

Our Principles PAC 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.[21][22] The Club for Growth spent $11 million in an effort to prevent Trump from becoming the Republican Party's nominee.[23]

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".[24][25][26] 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".[27][28]

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".[29] 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".[30] Regional coordinators for the effort were recruited in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Washington and other states.[30] 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.[31] 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.[24] She needed 56 other supporters from the 112-member panel, which determines precisely how Republicans select their nominee in Cleveland.[24] The Rules Committee instead voted 87–12 to adopt rules requiring delegates to vote based on their states' primary and caucus results.[32]

By individuals

Lindsey Graham, a Republican and 2016 presidential candidate, was an outspoken critic of fellow Republican Donald Trump's 2016 candidacy and vocalized his opposition to Trump as a candidate, publicly questioning Trump's conservatism and identity as a Republican.[33][34] Over the course of the Trump presidency, however, Graham became one of Trump's supporters in the Senate.[35]

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.[36][37]

Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for president in 2012, was a major leader among anti-Trump Republicans until November 9, 2016, when Donald Trump won the election. Romney re-affirmed his anti-Trump status in 2020 and 2021, when he strongly opposed Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and for Trump inciting the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack in January 2021.

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 (RNC). 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.[38] 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".[39][40][41] Nevertheless, Romney said early on he would "support the Republican nominee", though he did not "think that's going to be Donald Trump".[42]

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".[43][44] After Trump became the presumptive nominee in May, Graham announced he would not be supporting Trump in the general election, stating: "[I] 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".[45] 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 wants to vote for Clinton will instead vote for Jill Stein and in exchange a Stein supporter in a swing state will vote for Clinton.[46] 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.[47][48]

Republicans who left the party in opposition to the Trump administration

Several prominent Republicans have left the party in opposition to actions taken by the Trump administration.

Reactions

Reactions to the Stop Trump movement were mixed, with other prominent Republicans making statements in support of preventing Trump from receiving the Republican nomination. Following his withdrawal as a candidate for president, Senator Marco Rubio expressed hope that Trump's nomination could be stopped, adding that his nomination "would fracture the party and be damaging to the conservative movement".[58]

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus dismissed the potential impact of Mitt Romney's efforts to block Trump at the convention.[38] Sam Clovis, a national co-chairman for Trump's campaign, said he would leave the Republican Party if it "comes into that convention and jimmies with the rules and takes away the will of the people".[43] Ned Ryun, founder of conservative group American Majority, expressed concern about a contested convention, should Trump have the most delegates, but fail to reach the 1,237 necessary to be assured the nomination. Ryun speculated that a contested convention would result in Trump running as a third-party candidate, making it unlikely that Republicans would win the presidency in the November general election, adding that it would "blow up the party, at least in the short term".[59][60]

endorsement of Trump, he criticized the people who condemned his endorsement, including the Stop Trump movement, saying his critics had yet to support any of the remaining Republican candidates. "I think if you're a public figure, you have the obligation to speak out, and be 'for' something, not just 'against' something. ... When those folks in the 'Stop Trump' movement actually decide to be for something, then people can make an evaluation ... if they want to be for one of the remaining candidates, do what I did: be for one of the remaining candidates."[61]

Trump said if he were deprived of the nomination because of falling just short of the 1,237 delegates required, there could be "problems like you've never seen before. I think bad things would happen" and "I think you'd have riots".[62][63] Trump made prior comments suggesting that he might run as an independent candidate if he were not to get the Republican nomination.[38]

Cleveland.[66][67] Stone also threatened to disclose to the public the hotel room numbers of delegates who opposed Trump.[67]

In 2019, Kelly A. Hyman, wrote the book Top Ten Reasons to Dump Trump in 2020 during the continuation of Never Trump movement, where the reasons voiced during the movement in 2016–2019 are collected.[68] Following Trump's election in November 2016, some in the movement refocused their efforts on defeating Trump in 2020.[3]

General election opposition