A movement that has grown beyond recognition.
As Donald Trump became the frontrunner for the 2016 Republican nomination, a group of longtime members of the party, particularly national security professionals, signed open letters vowing they would never vote for him. A hashtag was born.
While I never signed one of the letters—I wasn’t asked and would have declined it as pretentious since I’d never served in a previous Republican administration—I very much considered myself a #NeverTrumper. But, even on election eve, I had no illusions that it was a powerful movement:
The #NeverTrump movement, while it may well be enough to keep Trump out of the White House, is nonetheless a fringe. It consists mainly of opinion writers, Republican politicians who have retired from politics, and the national security establishment. And the very existence of the movement will be seen as evidence that the reason Trump failed to get elected was the RINOs, not a political movement that’s out of step with modern America.
The movement has grown to more influence but, alas, to become unrecognizable.
WaPo (“The once-mocked ‘Never Trump’ movement becomes a sudden campaign force“):
Groups such as the Lincoln Project and Republican Voters Against Trump — which is focused on first-person testimonials like Josh’s — emphasize guerrilla tactics and scathing ads as they troll the president. The movement seeks to build a national political operation to oust both the president and his supporters in Congress, with a particular emphasis on persuading white suburban voters who consider themselves true Republicans to break from the president, according to interviews with more than a dozen anti-Trump advisers and allies who are involved in the planning, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.
Advisers to the Lincoln Project, which they say has about 30 employees and raised $16.
