#NeverTrump GOP endorsements LATEST: Graham and Lee voted McMullin

[Inmate Trump]

In this interview (at about the ~4:20 mark) Mitch McConnell is asked if he thinks Donald Trump is fit to be president, and he dodges the question, simply saying that “The American people will decide” in November:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-utLdJo69U

So we have the Republican Speaker of the House endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, yet accusing him of making racist comments, and the Republican Senate Majority Leader endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, but not answering the question when asked if he’s actually fit to be president.

Seems like a healthy political party.

Trump and his supporters have completely hijacked the GOP, and there's no coming back.

As someone who has never supported a Democrat for president, and only a very small handful of times for other positions, I, for one, will never support a Republican for any position if they endorse Trump in this election. That is an immediate disqualifier for me, no matter the position, no matter the opponent; an endorsement for Trump today is an opposition vote from me in the future.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Ohio state senator, who also happened to be a Kasich delegate at RNC, has some pretty strong words for TRUMP.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/blogs/2016/06/09/anti-trump-warren-county-lawmaker-resigns-gop-convention-delegate/85639164/

Warren County's Shannon Jones, a state senator who has vocally opposed the candidacy of presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, has resigned her spot as a delegate to the Republican convention in Cleveland next month.

"I'm not going to participate in this process. I'm just not going to participate in it," said Jones, of Clearcreek Township, who is running unopposed for Warren County commissioner this fall.

...

"If anything, I regret that I will not be able to be at the convention to vote against Donald Trump," McGregor said. "The dude's just whack.

McGregor said he isn't sure who he will vote for in the fall.

[Mr. Morden]

McConnell says Trump "doesn't know a lot about the issues":

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-06-10/mcconnell-trump-issues

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So, within a span of two days, McConnell has said that he's not sure if Trump is fit to be president, that he doesn't know a lot about the issues, and that he vehemently objects to many of the things Trump says.

But he's still backing Trump, because he says Trump will be better on the issues he care about than Clinton.

Again....seems like a healthy political party.

[Mr. Morden]

Only eight?  Off the top of my head, I can think of at least 10 Republican Senators who haven’t even offered an Ayotte-esque “I support the nominee, though with reservations” boilerplate statement of support:

Coats
Collins
Cruz
Flake
Graham
Heller
Kirk
Lee
Sasse
Toomey

To add to the above: I think Cory Gardner also hasn't endorsed Trump, or even given any kind of "support the nominee" type of statement.  So that's 11 sitting Republican Senators who are hold outs.  I think, perhaps, all of the other 43 current Republican Senators have at least offered some kind of "I support the nominee" type of statement, even if they won't say Trump's name.

[Mr. Morden]

Meg Whitman, having compared Trump to Hitler in recent days, clarifies that she is indeed #NeverTrump:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/gop-donors-donald-trump-224218

So the Whitman in the subject line of this thread has two meanings, I guess.

[Torie]

In this interview (at about the ~4:20 mark) Mitch McConnell is asked if he thinks Donald Trump is fit to be president, and he dodges the question, simply saying that “The American people will decide” in November:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-utLdJo69U

So we have the Republican Speaker of the House endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, yet accusing him of making racist comments, and the Republican Senate Majority Leader endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, but not answering the question when asked if he’s actually fit to be president.

Seems like a healthy political party.

Trump and his supporters have completely hijacked the GOP, and there's no coming back.

As someone who has never supported a Democrat for president, and only a very small handful of times for other positions, I, for one, will never support a Republican for any position if they endorse Trump in this election. That is an immediate disqualifier for me, no matter the position, no matter the opponent; an endorsement for Trump today is an opposition vote from me in the future.

That must be the single most important thing that causes down ballot Pub candidates angst. How do they get most Trump fans and Trump haters among the voters who typically vote Pub to both support them? Will most of the voters on both sides of this irreconcilable divide accept a statement that a candidate is making no endorsement in the election, and it's up to the voters, and the candidate is just going to focus on his or her race?

[Mr. Morden]

Looks like several Congressional Republicans have taken a new tack on Trump: Refuse to talk about him.  E.g., Cornyn says he isn’t going to talk about Trump anymore until the election is over:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/senate-trump-gop-orlando-224339

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Seems even more likely now that there will be no pressure from Republican leadership to get those members who refuse to endorse Trump to back him.

[Indy Texas]

Looks like several Congressional Republicans have taken a new tack on Trump: Refuse to talk about him.  E.g., Cornyn says he isn’t going to talk about Trump anymore until the election is over:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/senate-trump-gop-orlando-224339

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Seems even more likely now that there will be no pressure from Republican leadership to get those members who refuse to endorse Trump to back him.

And what the hell are they going to do when the press asks them questions about Trump, or when someone in the audience at one of their events goes rogue and asks a question? (It will happen and there will be people recording it.)

Are Americans going to be treated to footage of GOP incumbents literally running away when someone mentions Trump's name?

[wolfsblood07]

What is up with Hugh Hewitt?  Just last week he was calling for the GOP to change the rules and nominate someone other than Trump.  Now, he's acting like he never said that and talking about how Trump made some good points in his speech on the Orlando shooting.  I'm starting to wonder if Hewitt has a screw loose.  And now he's also acting like his months and months of confidently predicting an "open, contested" GOP convention and calling himself Nostradamus because he was the first to call it, were nothing more than just sort participating in the speculation.  I can't take this guy seriously any more!

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

In this interview (at about the ~4:20 mark) Mitch McConnell is asked if he thinks Donald Trump is fit to be president, and he dodges the question, simply saying that “The American people will decide” in November:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-utLdJo69U

So we have the Republican Speaker of the House endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, yet accusing him of making racist comments, and the Republican Senate Majority Leader endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, but not answering the question when asked if he’s actually fit to be president.

Seems like a healthy political party.

Trump and his supporters have completely hijacked the GOP, and there's no coming back.

As someone who has never supported a Democrat for president, and only a very small handful of times for other positions, I, for one, will never support a Republican for any position if they endorse Trump in this election. That is an immediate disqualifier for me, no matter the position, no matter the opponent; an endorsement for Trump today is an opposition vote from me in the future.

Trump's supporters haven't "hijacked" the GOP.  The GOP elites lived in this fantasy world where they could scare people with "higher taxes are coming" to vote for candidates who are all for wars, free trade, and liberal immigration policies.  The REAL Republican party spoke, and it's different from the positions papers of Rubio, Jeb!, and Cruz.

[RFayette]

In this interview (at about the ~4:20 mark) Mitch McConnell is asked if he thinks Donald Trump is fit to be president, and he dodges the question, simply saying that “The American people will decide” in November:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-utLdJo69U

So we have the Republican Speaker of the House endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, yet accusing him of making racist comments, and the Republican Senate Majority Leader endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, but not answering the question when asked if he’s actually fit to be president.

Seems like a healthy political party.

Trump and his supporters have completely hijacked the GOP, and there's no coming back.

As someone who has never supported a Democrat for president, and only a very small handful of times for other positions, I, for one, will never support a Republican for any position if they endorse Trump in this election. That is an immediate disqualifier for me, no matter the position, no matter the opponent; an endorsement for Trump today is an opposition vote from me in the future.

Trump's supporters haven't "hijacked" the GOP.  The GOP elites lived in this fantasy world where they could scare people with "higher taxes are coming" to vote for candidates who are all for wars, free trade, and liberal immigration policies.  The REAL Republican party spoke, and it's different from the positions papers of Rubio, Jeb!, and Cruz.

It's pretty obvious this is true to someone who knows GOP voters outside the Beltway (and a few others).  Having heard from a few of my Republican neighbors (at home, it's not like they exist in California ), I've heard them say that the Reagan/1980s playbook that the establishment GOP keeps playing is tiring and just doesn't work anymore on issues like trade and immigration.  They had reservations about Trump but supported him because he would shift the status quo.  And this is in a wealthy suburb with one of the highest college-degree holders in the state, not exactly Trump's base region.  The GOP establishment appeals to very few within the party faithful.

[Vosem]

In this interview (at about the ~4:20 mark) Mitch McConnell is asked if he thinks Donald Trump is fit to be president, and he dodges the question, simply saying that “The American people will decide” in November:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-utLdJo69U

So we have the Republican Speaker of the House endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, yet accusing him of making racist comments, and the Republican Senate Majority Leader endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, but not answering the question when asked if he’s actually fit to be president.

Seems like a healthy political party.

Trump and his supporters have completely hijacked the GOP, and there's no coming back.

As someone who has never supported a Democrat for president, and only a very small handful of times for other positions, I, for one, will never support a Republican for any position if they endorse Trump in this election. That is an immediate disqualifier for me, no matter the position, no matter the opponent; an endorsement for Trump today is an opposition vote from me in the future.

Trump's supporters haven't "hijacked" the GOP.  The GOP elites lived in this fantasy world where they could scare people with "higher taxes are coming" to vote for candidates who are all for wars, free trade, and liberal immigration policies.  The REAL Republican party spoke, and it's different from the positions papers of Rubio, Jeb!, and Cruz.

You realize those position papers got more votes than Trump, even counting in the votes Trump received when he was completely unopposed, right?

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

In this interview (at about the ~4:20 mark) Mitch McConnell is asked if he thinks Donald Trump is fit to be president, and he dodges the question, simply saying that “The American people will decide” in November:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-utLdJo69U

So we have the Republican Speaker of the House endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, yet accusing him of making racist comments, and the Republican Senate Majority Leader endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, but not answering the question when asked if he’s actually fit to be president.

Seems like a healthy political party.

Trump and his supporters have completely hijacked the GOP, and there's no coming back.

As someone who has never supported a Democrat for president, and only a very small handful of times for other positions, I, for one, will never support a Republican for any position if they endorse Trump in this election. That is an immediate disqualifier for me, no matter the position, no matter the opponent; an endorsement for Trump today is an opposition vote from me in the future.

Trump's supporters haven't "hijacked" the GOP.  The GOP elites lived in this fantasy world where they could scare people with "higher taxes are coming" to vote for candidates who are all for wars, free trade, and liberal immigration policies.  The REAL Republican party spoke, and it's different from the positions papers of Rubio, Jeb!, and Cruz.

You realize those position papers got more votes than Trump, even counting in the votes Trump received when he was completely unopposed, right?

Position papers don't get votes.  Candidates do.  If those "position papers" were as reflective of the rank and file GOP as you assert, Trump would not have gotten the nomination.  The GOP electorate would have coalesced around a candidate that adhered to those positions, just as the Democratic electorate would have coalesced around a candidate other than George Wallace in 1972, had Wallace not been shot.  (Wallace was the leading Democratic vote-getter in 1972 at the time he was shot.) 

It was hardly unclear to the GOP electorate that Trump was not in sync with the low tax/free trade/neocon foreign policy mantras that the GOP has pushed for several decades now.  That they chose DONALD TRUMP by LARGE PLURALITIES, and that these pluralities grew as the field winnowed, is, to me, indisputable proof that the GOP rank and file is not in sync with its leadership.

[Mr. Morden]

That they chose DONALD TRUMP by LARGE PLURALITIES, and that these pluralities grew as the field winnowed, is, to me, indisputable proof that the GOP rank and file is not in sync with its leadership.

~40% is still a minority.  Look, the GOP rank and file isn't all one thing.  Some of them are in sync with Trump, and some of them aren't.  Until the very end, when I think the voters kind of pushed him over the finish line due to exhaustion, his favorability #s among Republican voters were hardly the strongest in the field, and he consistently led in the "Who would you *NOT* vote for" category.  The idea that the ~40% who chose him makes him the overwhelming consensus choice of the voters because no other single candidate did as well as he did (as if the other ~60% isn't also part of the "rank and file") is ludicrous.

The vast majority will still back him in the end because he's not Hillary Clinton, but the same would have happened for any number of other possible candidates if they'd won the nomination.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Don't know if Mr. Morden posted it but Larry Hogan becomes the third Republican governor who says that he won't vote for TRUMP.

https://twitter.com/OvettaWashPost/status/743144158794219525

[Gass3268]

Don't know if Mr. Morden posted it but Larry Hogan becomes the third Republican governor who says that he won't vote for TRUMP.

https://twitter.com/OvettaWashPost/status/743144158794219525

I know Baker and Hogan, but who is the third?

[Landslide Lyndon]

Don't know if Mr. Morden posted it but Larry Hogan becomes the third Republican governor who says that he won't vote for TRUMP.

https://twitter.com/OvettaWashPost/status/743144158794219525

I know Baker and Hogan, but who is the third?

Rick Snyder according to the reporters.

[Gass3268]

Don't know if Mr. Morden posted it but Larry Hogan becomes the third Republican governor who says that he won't vote for TRUMP.

https://twitter.com/OvettaWashPost/status/743144158794219525

I know Baker and Hogan, but who is the third?

Rick Snyder according to the reporters.

Ah, thank you. I imagine we will get future statements from Martinez and Sandoval and maybe even Kasich and/or Walker.

[Wiz in Wis]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/gov-larry-hogan-i-will-not-vote-for-donald-trump/2016/06/15/5d27b28c-3326-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html

[heatcharger]

One of the few respectable Republicans out there, along with Charlie Baker of MA.

[Vosem]

In this interview (at about the ~4:20 mark) Mitch McConnell is asked if he thinks Donald Trump is fit to be president, and he dodges the question, simply saying that “The American people will decide” in November:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-utLdJo69U

So we have the Republican Speaker of the House endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, yet accusing him of making racist comments, and the Republican Senate Majority Leader endorsing the party’s presidential nominee, but not answering the question when asked if he’s actually fit to be president.

Seems like a healthy political party.

Trump and his supporters have completely hijacked the GOP, and there's no coming back.

As someone who has never supported a Democrat for president, and only a very small handful of times for other positions, I, for one, will never support a Republican for any position if they endorse Trump in this election. That is an immediate disqualifier for me, no matter the position, no matter the opponent; an endorsement for Trump today is an opposition vote from me in the future.

Trump's supporters haven't "hijacked" the GOP.  The GOP elites lived in this fantasy world where they could scare people with "higher taxes are coming" to vote for candidates who are all for wars, free trade, and liberal immigration policies.  The REAL Republican party spoke, and it's different from the positions papers of Rubio, Jeb!, and Cruz.

You realize those position papers got more votes than Trump, even counting in the votes Trump received when he was completely unopposed, right?

Position papers don't get votes.  Candidates do.  If those "position papers" were as reflective of the rank and file GOP as you assert, Trump would not have gotten the nomination.

Not true necessarily; Trump benefited from a very great deal of vote splitting. The candidates you list as having unpopular position papers collectively annihilated Trump.

  The GOP electorate would have coalesced around a candidate that adhered to those positions, just as the Democratic electorate would have coalesced around a candidate other than George Wallace in 1972, had Wallace not been shot.  (Wallace was the leading Democratic vote-getter in 1972 at the time he was shot.)

Just as the Democrats failed to coalesce around a single anti-Carter in 1976, they would have failed to coalesce around a single anti-Wallace in 1972. The differences between the different blocs were just too great. 

It was hardly unclear to the GOP electorate that Trump was not in sync with the low tax/free trade/neocon foreign policy mantras that the GOP has pushed for several decades now.

It was. Trump expressed support for classic Republican projects in debates and in his rallies -- his website proudly declared support for lower taxes and "bombing the sh**t" out of Middle Eastern enemies. Issue polling has shown the only issue on which Trump voters significantly differ from other Republicans is trade, and that that issue is not foremost for very many people.

Trump was chosen by people who liked his rhetoric, and by a liberal media that aided him by making him sound competent and tearing down his enemies.

  That they chose DONALD TRUMP by LARGE PLURALITIES, and that these pluralities grew as the field winnowed, is, to me, indisputable proof that the GOP rank and file is not in sync with its leadership.

First of all, "large pluralities" is an oxymoron. Second of all, they didn't. Trump got 33% in South Carolina and 35% in Wisconsin. He remained in the mid-30s from the start of the campaign in Iowa to about late April. Some polls had him in the mid-40s; some had him in the mid-20s. You can cite them if you wish, but they were outliers. His support only grew towards the end, when Cruz and Kasich demoralized their supporters by making moves seen as desperate. His favorability did not improve until after he actually received the nomination and enjoyed a (typical) post-winning bounce, which is now receding.

[Horsemask]

FF

Wonder how Christie feels about this

[tinman64]

Hogan's OK. No doubt this will marginally boost his already excellent re-election chances.

[ProudModerate2]

Governor of Maryland --- does his decision matter?

Every Republican Governor or other major Republican holding a prominent position, state or federal, that "rejects" trump "matters." Makes no difference from which state the Republican is from.
The level of well-known Republicans who are not supporting trump is unprecedented. The norm is that these Republicans either, genuinely like their presidential candidate or at the very least, say nothing negative.
That is not the case in 2016. Actually, it is far from normal. This just shows how much disgust everyone has for clownish trump.

[Mr. Morden]

Don't know if Mr. Morden posted it but Larry Hogan becomes the third Republican governor who says that he won't vote for TRUMP.

https://twitter.com/OvettaWashPost/status/743144158794219525

I know Baker and Hogan, but who is the third?

Rick Snyder according to the reporters.

Hogan had previously said that he wouldn’t comment on the presidential race, so yeah, this is new (and I’ve added him to the list in the OP).  He becomes the second sitting Republican governor to be #NeverTrump, along with Baker.

Sorry, Snyder doesn’t count.  AFAIK, Snyder has basically followed the line that Hogan was previously using (which is also being used by both Bush 41 and Bush 43).  He’s not endorsing anyone, or commenting on the presidential race.  Not the same as saying he won’t vote for Trump.  Unless there's a more definitive statement out there that I haven't seen?

Haslam, Kasich, and Martinez have also not endorsed Trump (or anyone), and there may be others who I’m forgetting at the moment.  Kasich has pretty much said that Trump would have to substantially transform his candidacy in order to get his endorsement, while Haslam and Martinez have been more vague about their intentions.

Sandoval and Walker endorsed Trump initially, but then both of them later pulled back their endorsements and now says they’re not sure.