The Never Trump movement (also known as #nevertrump, Stop Trump, anti-Trump, or Dump Trump movement) is a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

political movement that opposes Trumpism and U.S. president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, and in general, supports a return to a more rules-based internationalist, norm-following, ideologically conservative-oriented Republican party. The name originates from how much of a possibility there was that its 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 Mar-a-Lago ( , ) is a resort and National Historic Landmark on a barrier island in Palm Beach, Florida, United States. It spans 126 rooms and built on of land. Since 1985, it has been owned by Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of t ...

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 (known as Never Trump Republicans) and other prominent

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

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 United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor, Indiana governor Mike P ...

. Following his victory, remaining adherents worked to foil his re-election in 2020, and then in 2024. With his second presidential election victory in 2024, the New York Times described dissenters in the Republican party as having "been driven into retirement, defeated in primaries or cowed into silence". Early in its existence, the movement was compared to the Mugwumps, Republicans in the

1884 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 1884. Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Governor Grover Cleveland of New York (state), New York narrowly defeated United States R ...

who refused to back party nominee James G. Blaine and instead threw support for Democratic candidate

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

. Trump himself has condemned the movement as "more dangerous for our Country than the Do Nothing Democrats" and as its supporters as "human scum".

Complaints

A 2020 book review in ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

'' magazine (written by Dan McLaughlin) 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 (written by Ashley Pratte Oates) of what turned (some) conservatives against Trump included:

History

Besides Trump's election victories, setbacks for his opponents have included the grassroots Republican support for the

January 6 Events Pre-1600 * 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will ...

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 John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...

, Scott Walker, and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (; born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party (United States) , Rep ...

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 Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

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 Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...

primaries, including his victory over Rubio in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Erickson meeting

On March 17, 2016, anti-Trump conservatives met at the

Army and Navy Club The Army and Navy Club, commonly known as The Rag, is a private members' club in London that was founded in 1837 for officers of the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines.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 Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...

dropped out of the race following Trump's primary victory in Indiana on May 3, 2016, Trump became the

presumptive nominee Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

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 The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

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 Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

nominee

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

, independent conservative Evan McMullin and

American Solidarity Party The American Solidarity Party (ASP) is an United States, American Christian democracy, Christian democratic List of political parties in the United States, political party. It was founded in 2011 and officially incorporated in 2016. The party ...

nominee Mike Maturen.

Efforts to stop nomination of Trump

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. 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 Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. 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 (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. A few weeks later, Romney announced that he would vote for Ted Cruz in the Utah GOP caucuses. On his

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

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 Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

, 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 Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...

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 Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician, activist, and perennial candidate who was the Green Party of the United States, Green Party's nominee for President of the United States in the Jill Stein 2012 presidential campaign ...

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 George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

both refused to support Trump in the general election, with the elder Bush reportedly voting for Trump's rival Hillary Clinton.

Reactions to Stop Trump movement in the primary elections

Reactions to the Stop Trump movement have been 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

expressed hope that Trump's nomination could be stopped, adding that his nomination "would fracture the party and be damaging to the conservative movement".

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

chairman

Reince Priebus Reinhold Richard "Reince" Priebus ( ; born March 18, 1972) is an American politician, attorney, and naval officer who served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2017 and as White House chief of staff during the first s ...

dismissed the potential impact of Mitt Romney's efforts to block Trump at the convention. 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". 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". New Jersey Governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

expressed his opinion that efforts to stop Trump would ultimately fail. Relatively shortly after his 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." 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". Trump made prior comments suggesting that he might run as an

independent candidate An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have polit ...

if he were not to get the Republican nomination.

Roger Stone Roger Jason Stone (born Roger Joseph Stone Jr.; August 27, 1952) is an American Political consulting, political consultant and lobbyist. He is Donald Trump's longest-serving political adviser, best known for the Mueller special counsel investi ...

, a political consultant who served as an advisor for Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and who remains a "confidant" to Trump,Philip Rucker & Robert Costa
While the GOP worries about convention chaos, Trump pushes for 'showbiz' feel
, ''The Washington Post'' (April 17, 2016). put together a group called Stop the Steal and threatened "days of rage" if Republican Party leaders tried to deny the nomination to Trump at the

.Jim DeFede
Roger Stone: Inside the World of a Political Hitman
, CBS Miami (April 17, 2016).
, ''The Washington Post'' (April 17, 2016). Stone also threatened to disclose to the public the hotel room numbers of delegates who opposed Trump.

2016 general election opposition

Trump was widely described as the presumptive Republican nominee after the May3 Indiana primary, notwithstanding the continued opposition of groups such as Our Principles PAC. Many Republican leaders endorsed Trump after he became the presumptive nominee, but other Republicans looked for ways to defeat him in the general election. One potential strategy would involve an independent candidate gaining enough electoral votes to deny a majority to either of the major party candidates, sending the three presidential candidates with the most electoral votes to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

under procedures established by the Twelfth Amendment. Stop Trump members such as

, Erick Erickson, William Kristol, Mike Murphy, Stuart Stevens, and Rick Wilson pursued the possibility of an independent candidacy by a non-Trump Republican. Potential candidates included Senator Ben Sasse, Governor John Kasich, Senator Tom Coburn, Congressman Justin Amash, Senator

Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

, retired Marine Corps General James Mattis, lawyer Kelly A. Hyman, retired Army General

Stanley McChrystal Stanley Allen McChrystal (born 14 August 1954) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general best known for his command of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) from 2003 to 2008 during which his organization was credited w ...

, former Secretary of State

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza "Condi" Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist serving since 2020 as the 8th director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served ...

, businessman

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American businessman and television personality. He is the former principal owner and current minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and co-owner of 2929 Entertain ...

and 2012 Republican nominee

. However, many of these candidates rejected the possibility of an independent run, pointing to difficulties such as ballot access and the potential to help the Democratic candidate win the presidency.

's campaign in the Libertarian Party also attracted attention. William Kristol, editor of '' The Weekly Standard'', promoted ''

'' staff writer David A. French of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

as a prospective candidate. However, French opted not to run. On August 8, Evan McMullin, a conservative Republican, announced that he would mount an independent bid for president with support of the Never Trump movement. McMullin was backed by Better for America (a Never Trump group) and supported by former Americans Elect CEO Kahlil Byrd and Republican campaign finance lawyer Chris Ashby. Some anti-Trump Republicans said they would vote for

in the general election. In late May, Craig Snyder, a former Republican staffer, launched the Republicans for Hillary PAC, "aimed at convincing Republicans to choose

over ... Donald Trump in November". Grassroots efforts, like Republicans for Clinton in 2016, or R4C16, and Holding Our Noses For Hillary also joined the effort to defeat Trump. On May 3, 2016, one of the biggest anti-Trump groups, the Never Trump PAC, circulated a petition to collect the signatures of conservatives opposed to voting for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. As of August 19, 2016, over 54,000 people had signed the petition.

2016 election impact

Although Trump's campaign drew a substantial amount of criticism, Trump received 88 percent of the Republican vote, while Clinton won 89 percent of Democratic voters.

2016 Electoral College

After Trump won the election, two

Electoral College An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

electors launched an effort to convince fellow electors who were allocated to Trump to vote against him. On December 11, Jim Himes, a Democratic member of the

, wrote on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that the Electoral College should not elect Trump: "We're 5wks from Inauguration & the President Elect is completely unhinged. The Electoral College must do what it was designed for". In a December 12 interview on CNN's '' New Day'', Himes said he was troubled by several actions by the President-elect. The issue that "pushed imover the edge" was Trump's criticism of the CIA and the intelligence community. The Congressman did admit Trump won "fair and square", but he said that Trump proved himself unfit for public office. He cited the intentions behind the creation of the Electoral College and argued that it was created for an instance such as the election of Trump. In the end, efforts to persuade more electors to vote against Trump failed and Trump won 304 electors on December 19. Trump's electoral lead over Clinton even grew because a larger number of electors defected from her: Trump received 304 of his 306 pledged electors, Clinton 227 of her 232.

Developments following the 2016 election

In a ''

'' article titled "Never Trump Nevermore", Jonah Goldberg stated:

I'm going to call 'em like I see 'em and wait and see if I was wrong about Trump. ... The thing is: Never Trump is over. Never Trump was about the GOP primary and the general election, not the presidency. The Left wants to claim it must be a permanent movement, denying the legitimacy of Trump's election forever, or we were never serious. Well, that's not what we—or at least I—signed up for. ... I'll say it again: I'm going to call 'em like I see 'em and wait and see if I was wrong about Trump. So far, I've said that most of his cabinet picks have been a pleasant and welcome surprise. But he's also done plenty of things that make me feel like I had him pegged all along. We only have one president at a time—and the guy isn't even president yet. I'll give him a chance. But I won't lie for him either.

After the election, other Republicans who had resisted Trump's candidacy, such as South Carolina Senator

, declared their support for his presidency. As of February 2018, Trump's job approval among self-described Republicans was at or near 90 percent.

Impeachment

In 2019, details emerged about Trump's efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate the Biden family to help Trump's re-election campaign. Democrats initiated an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump, but, in what was a "final blow" to some Never Trumpers, Republicans were unmoved by the evidence and largely stood by Trump, leading Never Trumpers to migrate to the Democratic Party. Trump reacted by publicly characterized the witnesses in the inquiry as Never Trumpers in an effort to discredit them. In unsubstantiated statements, he has also specifically accused Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor, National Security Council official Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent, and State Department official Jennifer Williams of being Never Trumpers. When asked by Democratic House Representatives during the public impeachment hearings, Taylor, Vindman, Kent, and Williams, as well as former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, all denied being Never Trumpers. On October 23, 2019, Trump tweeted: "The Never Trumper Republicans, though on respirators with not many left, are in certain ways worse and more dangerous for our Country than the Do Nothing Democrats. Watch out for them, they are human scum!"

2020 election

Following Trump's

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

in November 2016, some in the movement refocused their efforts on defeating Trump in 2020. In 2019, Kelly A. Hyman, wrote the book ''Top Ten Reasons to Dump Trump in 2020''. Also in 2019, former

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

Justice Robert F. Orr co-founded the National Republicans, who support the views of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and

. Evan McMullin, who ran for president in 2016, started the group Republicans for a New President, which held The Convention on Founding Principles at the same time as the 2020 Republican National Convention. The alternative event, which included principal members of Republicans for the Rule of Law and The Lincoln Project, was primarily a

virtual event A virtual event is an online event that involves people interacting in a virtual environment on the web, rather than meeting in a physical location. Virtual events are typically multi-session online events that often feature webinars and webca ...

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Numerous pundits, journalists and politicians speculated that President

might face a significant Republican primary challenger in 2020 because of his historic unpopularity in polls, his association with allegations of

Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections The Russian government conducted Foreign electoral intervention, foreign electoral interference in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign, presidential campaign of Hillar ...

, his impeachment, and his support of unpopular policies. In popular culture, political bumper stickers and yard signs expressed views like "Anyone But Trump" and "Any Functioning Adult". After rejoining the Republican Party in January 2019, former Republican governor of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and 2016 Libertarian vice presidential nominee Bill Weld announced the formation of a 2020 presidential exploratory committee on February 15, 2019. Weld announced his 2020 presidential candidacy on April 15, 2019. Weld was considered a long-shot challenger because of Trump's popularity with Republicans; furthermore, Weld's views on abortion rights, gay marriage, marijuana legalization, and other issues conflict with socially conservative positions dominant in the modern Republican party. Weld withdrew from the race on March 18, 2020, after Trump earned enough delegates to secure the nomination. Former U.S. representative Joe Walsh was a strong Trump supporter in 2016, but gradually became critical of the president. On August 25, 2019, Walsh officially declared his candidacy against Trump, calling Trump an "unfit con man". He then ended his campaign on February 7, 2020, following a poor performance in the Iowa Caucuses. Walsh called the Republican Party a "cult" and said that he likely would support whoever was the Democratic nominee in the general election. According to Walsh, Trump supporters had become "followers" who think that Trump "can do no wrong", after absorbing misinformation from conservative media. He stated, "They don't know what the truth is and—more importantly—they don't care." Former South Carolina governor and former U.S. representative Mark Sanford officially declared his candidacy on September 8, but suspended his campaign two months later on November 12, 2019, after failing to gain significant attention from voters. Trump won every primary by wide margins and clinched the nomination shortly after the Super Tuesday primaries ended. While the results were never in doubt, the primary wasn't without controversy. Several states postponed their primaries/caucuses due to the

, and others continued with in-person voting while Trump's claims about fraud related to by-mail voting discouraged expansion and promotion of such voting.

2024 election

Despite the January 6 attack on the Capitol, the repeal of Roe v. Wade, his two impeachments, felony conviction, and a poor Republican showing in the 2022 midterms, Never Trumpers now saw no home for themselves in the Republican party for the foreseeable future. ''The New York Times'' described Trump as having completed a "hostile takeover" of the Republican Party and facing meek resistance from representatives and senators for fear of Trump-backed primary challengers. It described that his "dissenters have been driven into retirement, defeated in primaries or cowed into silence". Fivethirtyeight has described the faction as "increasingly involved" in the Democratic Party where they are urging support for moderate candidate.

Never Trumpers

The movement was not "a single, cohesive group or faction", but more a "coalition of convenience", of people with different policy issues. Some opposed Trump in the 2016 primaries but supported or at least didn't oppose him in the general election, some opposed him in the general election but abandoned opposition when he won and became president. Those in the national-security field were more likely to stay opponents, than officeholders, those in law (Trump appointed many conservative judges), or those in rightwing media (where opposing the Republican presidential nominee against a Democrat was much like a sports-talk host opposing the hometown team).

Mitt Romney

, the Republican nominee for president in 2012, was a major leader among anti-Trump Republicans until November 9, 2016, when

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.

Liz Cheney

Liz Cheney Elizabeth Lynne Cheney (; born July 28, 1966) is an American attorney and politician. She represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, and served as chair of the House Republican Conference from 2019 to 2021. Cheney i ...

is known for her vocal opposition to President

. Cheney supported the second impeachment of Donald Trump following the 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol. Following her impeachment vote and criticism of Donald Trump, pro-Trump members of the House Republican Conference attempted to remove her from party leadership. In a second attempt, this time with House Minority Leader

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...

supporting her removal, Cheney was removed from her position in May 2021. In July 2021, Speaker

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

appointed Cheney to the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. Two months later, she was made vice chair of the committee. As a consequence of her service on the Select Committee, Cheney's membership in the Wyoming Republican Party was revoked in November 2021. She was censured by the

(RNC) in February 2022. In 2022, Cheney lost renomination in Wyoming's Republican primary to Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman in a landslide, garnering just 28.9% of the vote. Cheney has said that she intends to be "the leader, one of the leaders, in a fight to help to restore" the Republican Party. She later endorsed

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

in the 2024 presidential election who would go on to lose all seven major swing states to Trump.

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. * Joe Scarborough (former representative and host of MSNBC's ''

Morning Joe ''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news talk show, which airs weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former United States House of Representatives, US Repr ...

'') * George Will (conservative columnist) * Max Boot (conservative columnist) * Richard Painter (Bush ethics lawyer) * Steve Schmidt (Republican Party strategist and top George W. Bush aide) * Jennifer Rubin (author of the "Right Turn" blog for ''The Washington Post'') *

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

(Former

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

) * Joe Walsh (former representative and radio host) * Wayne Gilchrest (former representative)

Former Never Trumpers

Several prominent Republicans who once opposed Trump but who later become supporters of him are listed below. *

JD Vance James David Vance (born James Donald Bowman, August2, 1984) is an American politician, author, attorney, and Marine Corps veteran who is the 50th vice president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republic ...

(former United States senator from Ohio and currently Trump's vice president) - In 2016, Vance called himself a "never-Trump guy," and called Trump "an idiot", "reprehensible" and "America's Hitler", but in a February 2021 meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, he "took the opportunity to personally apologize to Trump" for having bought "into a narrative framed by the mainstream media". * Bernie Moreno, (United States senator from Ohio) - Moreno in 2016 described Trump as a "lunatic invading he Republican Party and said he could not support a Republican Party led by "that maniac". He wrote in a tweet that he had written in a vote for

in the 2016 presidential election. During a 2019 radio interview, Moreno said, "there's no scenario in which I would support Trump." In 2024, he said, "I wear with honor my endorsement from President Trump." *

(United States senator from South Carolina) - Long known as a moderate Republican, Graham publicly admitted to voting against Trump, the Republican candidate for president, in the 2016 general election, and was "one of Trump’s "fiercest and most colorful critics" during that election cycle, stating, “I think he’s (Trump) a kook. I think he’s crazy. I think he’s unfit for office.” By 2017, Graham was complaining that “what concerns me about the American press is this endless, endless attempt to label the guy some kind of kook not fit to be President”.

Principles First

Among the organizations of conservative opponents of Trump is "Principles First", which has held five annual gatherings of "disaffected conservatives". Its fifth conference (February 21-23, 2025, in Washington DC at the JW Marriot), had 1,200 attendees included Heath Mayo, a cofounder of the group, entrepreneur

, former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, former Arkansas governor

Asa Hutchinson William Asa Hutchinson II (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, AY-sə''; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 46th governor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Part ...

, and one Democratic Party office holder, "centrist"

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis ( ; ; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the Unite ...

, Governor of Colorado. The conference billed itself as an alternative to the

Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC ) is an annual political conference attended by Conservatism in the United States, conservative Activism, activists and officials from across the United States. CPAC is hosted by the American ...

(CPAC), but also welcomed political independents and "center-left Democrats under a shared pro-democracy, anti-authoritarian" banner. However the gathering did not end with a "clear roadmap" to fight Trump, failing to achieve a consensus on whether to fight "within Republican spheres at all, migrate to the Democratic Party or find a different path altogether. The "Summit" one month after Trump had returned to power, was notable for being "crashed" by several convicted and pardoned rioters from the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and an evacuation of the conference on its last day after anonymous death threats against some of its speakers. The uninvited January 6 rioters shouted at and insulted four well-known police officers— Michael Fanone, Daniel Hodges, Harry Dunn, and Aquilino Gonell—who had defended the Capitol on January 6 and were in attendance at the conference. The rioters included the former leader of the

Proud Boys The Proud Boys is an American far-right politics, far-right, Neo-fascism, neo-fascist militant organization that promotes and engages in political violence.Far-right: * * Fascist: * * * * * Men only: * * * Political violence and militancy: ...

, Enrique Tarrio, whose 22 year sentence for January 6 activities had been pardoned by the Trump administration. This "targeted harassment" by intruders was allegedly a first for the conference, but police officer Fanone told the crowd that it was only a "small taste" of what his life has been like for four years since the insurrection. The conference was evacuated on its last day following a death threat against conference speakers John Bolton and former DC police officer Michael Fanone, both of whom had been critical of President Trump. In the Trump administration, communications director Steven Cheung quote-posted on his government account a Principles First announcement, which included pictures of the featured speakers and a link to the schedule, four days before the conference, and reposted it later. Journalist Tom Nichols speculates Cheung's post of what Cheung called the “ Cuck Convention”, may have been for the benefit of people like Tarrio, and quotes a Middle East and Russia commentator Michael Weiss, that the actions of "pardoned putschist" Tarrio intimidating opponents of Trump resembles the pattern of thugs working on behalf of strongmen like Ukrainian strongman Viktor Yanukovych.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, 2010s, 2020s, Conservatism, Politics, United States Crossover voting Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign Presidency of Barack Obama First presidency of Donald Trump Presidency of Joe Biden