Never Trump is not dead. We mean what we say

After the Republican National Committee used strong-arm tactics and outright deception to crush an effort led by anti-Trump delegates to obtain a roll call vote on a rules package that didn’t even directly concern the nomination of Trump, many in the media (and in the Republican party) hastened to carry Trump’s water by declaring that “#NeverTrump is over” or “#NeverTrump has been defeated”.

These claims show that most in the media (and in the Republican party) have not really understood #NeverTrump from the start. That’s primarily due to the fact that they appear to not understand the meaning of the word “never”. Which is surprising, because it’s a relatively simple word: it means “not ever”. It does not mean, “not ever, unless Trump becomes the Republican nominee”.

Everyone I know in the #NeverTrump movement has known since at least Indiana that it was overwhelmingly likely that Trump would be the Republican nominee. The plot to unbind the delegates in Cleveland and allow them to vote their conscience was doomed to almost certain failure from the start and wasn’t even supported by all #NeverTrump folks. I personally thought it was a noble but misguided effort to save the Republican party from itself.

The fact that Trump is actually going to get the nomination does not change any of that. The whole point of declaring #NeverTrump was to clearly say that we would not vote for Trump, even in the general, if he turned out the be the Republican nominee.

That’s why this movement even exists as a thing. Most of us are used to “our candidate” losing in the primary. I supported Rick Perry in 2012, Fred Thompson in 2008, Steve Forbes in 2000, and Jack Kemp in 1996. Like a lot of people who are #NeverTrump, I am not a sore loser. In each of these elections, I have happily campaigned and voted for the Republican nominee in spite of the fact that they beat “my” guy. I never said I was “#NeverMcCain” or “#NeverBush” even though they weren’t my first (or second) choice.

Trump, on the other hand, is a completely different animal. It isn’t just that he’s liberal (although he is), it isn’t just that he’s spent his whole life getting Democrats elected (although he has), and it isn’t just that his understanding of both domestic and foreign affairs is rudimentary at best and dangerously ignorant at worst (although this is also true). It’s that he is, by both temperament and judgment, unfit for the office as a human being.

I could go on for some length about why, even though I think it should be manifestly obvious to anyone with a functioning brain. One incident should be enough to convince anyone whose mind is open. On the day Trump clinched the nomination by winning Indiana, he took to the national airwaves and mused aloud that Ted Cruz’s father might have been involved in the assassination of JFK – because of something he read in the National Enquirer. That’s not the behavior of someone who can be trusted with the command of the world’s largest military.

#NeverTrump means Never Trump. It’s actually quite simple: we will not vote for Trump, ever. What that means for each person will be different, and the movement does not really seek to impose that on anyone. Some of us will simply not vote at all for president. Some of us will vote for the Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson. And some of us will hold our nose and for the first time in our lives vote for Hillary Clinton. It all depends on the extent to which each individual person perceives the gravity of the Trump threat.

But the fact that Trump is going to win the Republican nomination does not mean we are done with #NeverTrump. It only means that we might be done with the Republican party.