#NeverTrump GOP endorsements LATEST: Graham and Lee voted McMullin

[Mr. Morden]

Susan Collins remains non-committal on Trump.  She won’t endorse him yet, but says she probably will if he starts behaving better…no final decision until the convention though:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/susan-collins-ill-be-able-to-back-trump-if-he-stops-the-grat?utm_term=.nsGymA5Vv#.ty9rPoGDj

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[Mr. Morden]

Bill Kristol was sounding wobbly on this as recently as yesterday, but today he reiterated that he won't vote for Trump:

http://mediamatters.org/video/2016/05/04/weekly-standard-s-bill-kristol-im-looking-independent-candidate-trump-likes-rapists/210233

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[Mr. Morden]

I’ve tried to be comprehensive in this thread with listing current or former major office holders (I’m not going to get into state legislators and the like, because that would be silly).  I’ve been rather inconsistent though, with regard to whether it’s worth mentioning various conservative media figures or notable former strategists and aides to Republican politicians.  There are many of them, and it’s unclear where one should bother drawing the line.  However, here’s a list of 20+ of them who’ve said that they’re #NeverTrump (with references given):

http://mediamatters.org/research/2016/03/02/20-plus-conservative-pundits-who-have-vowed-not/208951

Many, but not all, of those names have already been mentioned in this thread.

[Mr. Morden]

Former Sen. Slade Gorton (WA) says he won’t vote for Trump.  Same with Rob McKenna, the unsuccessful Republican nominee for governor of Washington in 2012:

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/state-gop-divided-over-trumps-triumph/

[Mr. Morden]

Former FL Rep. and current Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough says he won’t vote for Trump unless Trump backs away from some of his more extreme proposals like the Muslim ban:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/05/joe-scarborough-trump-vote-222834

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[Mr. Morden]

Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito says that, like Gov. Charlie Baker, she will not vote for Trump in November:

https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2016/05/05/gov-bakers-former-running-mate-will-vote-trump

Rep. Louie Gohmert says he won’t endorse Trump unless Trump apologizes for all the character attacks on his GOP rivals during the primaries:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/gohmert-ill-get-on-board-with-trump-once-he-apologizes/

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[Mr. Morden]

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner gives one of the “split the difference” answers on Trump.  He says that while he’ll abide by his previous promise to “support” the GOP presidential nominee, he won’t offer a “formal endorsement”.  He also says he won’t attend the convention:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-donald-trump-bruce-rauner-illinois-republicans-met-0506-20160505-story.html

In Missouri, Rep. Ann Wagner says that while she won’t vote for Clinton, she hasn’t yet decided whether she’s going to vote for Trump or not:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/republican-rep-ann-wagner-says-trump-with-slurs-and-attacks/article_63b1db02-6be3-563d-8e78-7ab3b4701a95.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says he’s staying out of the presidential race:

http://wlns.com/2016/05/05/are-republican-lawmakers-ready-to-back-donald-trump/

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert says he’s not sure who he’ll vote for for president:

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/jonathan-johnson-hasn-t-decided-if-he-ll-support-trump/article_315100f3-3c6c-5e9e-9786-249c118724f0.html

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The chairman of the Colorado GOP says he doesn’t care if prominent Colorado Republicans want to take a pass on endorsing Trump:

http://www.9news.com/news/politics/colorado-republicans-not-all-ready-to-unite-on-trump/171128224

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Rep. Mike Coffman also said he’s still undecided:

http://www.9news.com/news/politics/colorado-republicans-not-all-ready-to-unite-on-trump/171128224

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[Mr. Morden]

Trump now attacking Bush and Graham for not supporting him:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/the-gops-24-hour-meltdown-222921

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[Mr. Morden]

Trump also going after Scarborough:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-joe-scarborough-wrong-222904

Is Trump going to spend the next six months attacking every Republican who hasn't endorsed him, thereby ensuring that they don't endorse him?

[Mr. Morden]

Should be noted that back in March, Trump himself said the pledge no longer applied:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/trump-republican-pledge_us_56fb3223e4b083f5c6060042

[Mr. Morden]

As noted in the VP thread, while Rubio hasn't said this publicly yet, someone in his political orbit says that he's planning to skip the convention as well:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=234526.msg5058348#msg5058348

Of the 17 candidates this year, will even half of them end up showing up at the convention?

[Mr. Morden]

As noted in the VP thread, while Rubio hasn't said this publicly yet, someone in his political orbit says that he's planning to skip the convention as well:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=234526.msg5058348#msg5058348

Of the 17 candidates this year, will even half of them end up showing up at the convention?

Gilmore said he's going. So there's that.

Is there enough money left in his campaign account to cover bus fare to Cleveland?

[Mr. Morden]

Santorum says he hasn’t yet decided who he’s going to vote for, and it sounds like he’s not going to decide for some time:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/christophermassie/rick-santorum-says-hell-sit-on-the-sidelines-of-presidential?utm_term=.ru23mPgYv#.plv7B8rjL

In other news, leading #NeverTrump conservative blogger Erick Erickson seems to now be engaging in nonstop trolling of Trump and the Republican Party.  His latest is his column arguing that the fact that the Republicans nominated Trump means that they now owe Bill Clinton an apology for impeaching him:

http://theresurgent.com/republicans-apologize-to-bill-clinton/

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[Mr. Morden]

Former US Sen. Gordon Humphrey (NH) says he won’t support Trump:

http://www.unionleader.com/Trump_Lewandowski_voted_NH_delegation_chair

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Humphrey is one of New Hampshire’s delegates to the RNC this year (pledged to John Kasich).

[Mr. Morden]

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, “the only Republican mayor of a large US city”, says he won’t vote for Trump:

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/may/06/mayor-kevin-faulconer-wont-endorse-trump/

In Washington state, Chris Vance (the likely Republican challenger to Patty Murray) says he won’t back Trump.  While Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers says she’s still undecided, and would have to “have a conversation with Trump” before deciding.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/may/05/mcmorris-rodgers-hesitant-on-trump-senate-challeng/

Meanwhile, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (TX) basically says he won’t back Trump unless he fundamentally changes who he is and what his platform is because, as he puts it, Trump is currently “running on tyranny”:

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsmax-Tv/tom-delay-bernie-sanders-supporters-vote/2016/05/05/id/727459/

[The DeLay soundbite isn’t in the text there, but if you watch the video, that’s what he says.]

[Mr. Morden]

Should be noted that in addition to the #NeverTrump endorsements, there have of course been plenty of Republicans endorsing Trump since his de facto clinching of the nomination on Tuesday.  The endorsers of Trump certainly outnumber those who are #NeverTrump, and that's not going to change.

But so many of those endorsements have just been perfunctory “I support the nominee” statements.  Among sitting US Senators, for example, who has really given a full-throated endorsement of Trump besides Jeff Sessions?

I just don’t see this rift in the party repairing itself at any point between now and November.  The idea that opposition to Trump within the GOP is going to fizzle out “just like the PUMAs” seems fanciful to me.

[Mr. Morden]

The people claiming to be #NeverTrump during the primaries but are now heeling are a bunch of f**king cucks. At least have some balls about who you support ffs, I mean Bush and Romney are...

Who was claiming to be #NeverTrump during the primaries but now heeling?  Sure, there are people who were opposed to Trump winning the nomination but didn't rule out backing him in the GE.  Many of *those* people are now endorsing him, but they always said they would, or at least might.

But the people who actually said weeks/months ago that they would never vote for Trump in the general election....as far as I can tell, every remotely prominent person in that camp is sticking to their guns so far, and not endorsing him.  Unless I'm missing someone?

IIRC, some here on this forum were saying "Oh, wait and see, once Trump is the only thing standing in the way of the election of a President Hillary Clinton, these people will fold."  But at least so far, it's not happening.

[Mr. Morden]

It’s not just the political leaders, but the management people too:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-administration-transition-222944

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[Mr. Morden]

It remains the case that most of the Republican politicians to have promised not to vote for Trump in the GE are former, rather than current, elected officials.  However, Politico lists some of those currently in office who’ve said that they won’t vote for him:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-gop-endorsements-222894

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All of those folks have already been mentioned here except for Justin Amash.  Amash has been highly critical of Trump, and even sent a cryptic tweet which some interpreted as him hinting at a 3rd party run.  But I’m actually not aware of him having said one way or the other whether he’s open to voting for Trump in the GE.  The AP says:

http://www.grandhaventribune.com/Politics/2016/05/06/Michigan-GOP-officials-come-to-grips-with-Trump

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But I’m not sure where the quote is from Amash on his GE voting intentions.

Pataki is another one who appears on some of these #NeverTrump lists, and he’s been very critical of Trump, but I haven’t actually seen anyone ask him whether he rules out voting Trump in November.

Likewise, there seems to be a little confusion over whether Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford are #NeverTrump or not:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/democrats-place-hogan-on-a-silent-9-trump-list/2016/05/04/8e5006ea-124f-11e6-81b4-581a5c4c42df_story.html

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I guess that means that Rutherford is #NeverTrump while Hogan won’t publicly comment on who he intends to vote for?  In many cases, it gets rather confusing, because some of these guys are really trying to weasel themselves into a middle position like “support by not endorse” or “won’t endorse, but I might vote for him without telling you”.  OTOH, in other cases I think people say that they won’t support him and legit intend that to mean they won’t vote for him, but the journalists don’t followup in a way that would give them a more airtight statement.

[Mr. Morden]

Toomey said as recently as two weeks ago that he would "support the nominee", but now he's saying that Trump might be problematic enough that he'll have to refrain from supporting him:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/christophermassie/pat-toomey-i-hope-we-dont-get-to-a-point-where-i-cant-suppor?utm_term=.rd53wE4Xl#.bajxjp2mP

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I'll reiterate what I said earlier in the thread: For some of the most vulnerable House and Senate candidates, it's very possible that if they think they're in big trouble late into the fall, and Trump is still really unpopular at that point, they suddenly discover a disqualifying reason to "un-endorse" Trump, as a last ditch desperation move to save their seat.

[Mr. Morden]

Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado (“who serves in a non-partisan post but is a Republican”) says he won’t vote for Trump:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/tomas-regalado-no-support-trump-223109

[Mr. Morden]

It amazes me that this is such a vexing issue.  A party that doesn't back its Presidential nominee never does well in November, with the exception of the McGovern 1972 debacle for the Democrats.  Even that was a different situation; you had a core of Southern and Border states whose Democratic Parties were estranged to varying degrees from the National Democratic Party. 

Aside from the fact that some of these guys legit think Trump is unsuitable for office and think that trumps (pun?) the party’s interests, you also have folks like Romney who are looking to their legacy.  They think history will remember them better if they oppose Trump.

And then you have the fact that some of them think that it is in the party’s interest for there to be an “alternative brand” for the GOP.  In brief, the think is Trump is going to lose badly, and tarnish the party’s image for years (decades?) to come.  *However*, if you create a subset of the party operating under a different banner (Republicans against Trump), then those people might be able to swoop in after the election being relatively unscathed by Trump’s stink, thus improving the party position in 2018 and beyond.  From their perspective, they are operating in the party’s interest...its longer term interest.

They are the "nuclear bunker"--the insurance policy for the party that activates in case Trump implodes in a massive landslide and takes down everyone associated with him.

And then you also have people who want to run a 3rd party candidate because they think it’s necessary to prevent a dropoff in turnout from anti-Trump Republican voters.  Give those people an additional choice for president, and they’re more likely to show up to vote for Republicans in downballot races.

[Mr. Morden]

Famed “neocon” former Reagan State Department official / McCain foreign policy advisor Robert Kagan has just published a new #NeverTrump manifesto in WaPo titled “This is how fascism comes to America”:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-is-how-fascism-comes-to-america/2016/05/17/c4e32c58-1c47-11e6-8c7b-6931e66333e7_story.html

[Mr. Morden]

Add in David Jolly. CLC will vote for TRUMP but isn't happy about it:

http://www.bradenton.com/news/politics-government/election/article75570552.html

I'm very late to respond to this, but should be noted that Jolly is saying that he's still undecided on whether to vote for Trump or not.  Not that he's ruling it out.