This article is about conservative opposition to Donald Trump during and since the 2016 presidential campaign. For general opposition to Donald Trump, see Protests against Donald Trump.
"Dump Trump" redirects here. For the statue, see Dump Trump (statue).
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The Never Trump movement, also called the #nevertrump, Stop Trump, anti-Trump, or Dump Trump movement,[1] is an ongoing moderate conservative movement that opposes Trumpism and former U.S. president Donald Trump. It began as an effort on the part of a group of Republicans (known as Never Trump Republicans) and other prominent conservatives to prevent Republican front-runner Donald Trump from obtaining the 2016 Republican Party presidential nomination.
After he was nominated, this shifted into an effort to prevent him from obtaining the presidency in the 2016 United States presidential election. Trump remained unsupported by 20 percent of Republican members of Congress in the general election.[2] Following Trump's election in November 2016, some in the movement refocused their efforts on defeating Trump in 2020.[3]
Trump entered the Republican primaries on June 16, 2015, at a time when governors Jeb Bush and Scott Walker and Senator Marco Rubio were viewed as early frontrunners.[4] 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.[5][6] By the end of 2015, Trump was leading the Republican field in national polls.[7] At this point, some Republicans, such as former Mitt Romney adviser Alex Castellanos, called for a "negative ad blitz" against Trump[8] and another former Romney aide founded Our Principles PAC to attack Trump.[9]
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.[10] The Never Trump movement gained momentum following Trump's wins in the March 15, 2016, Super Tuesday primaries, including his victory over Rubio in Florida.[11][12] After Senator Ted Cruz dropped out of the race following Trump's primary victory in Indiana on May 3, 2016, Trump became the presumptive nominee while internal opposition to Trump remained as the process pivoted towards a general election.[13]
Following unsuccessful attempts by some delegates at the Republican National Convention 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, Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, independent conservative Evan McMullin and American Solidarity Party nominee Mike Maturen.[14][15]
Some have compared the Never Trump movement to the Mugwumps, Republicans in the 1884 United States presidential election who refused to back party nominee James G. Blaine and instead threw support for Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland.[16]
^Cassidy, John (March 3, 2016). "The Problem with the 'Never Trump' Movement". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
^Johnson, Lauren R.; McCray, Deon; Ragusa, Jordan M. (January 11, 2018). "#NeverTrump: Why Republican members of Congress refused to support their party's nominee in the 2016 presidential election". Research & Politics. 5 (1): 205316801774938. doi:10.1177/2053168017749383.
^Steinhauser, Paul (May 23, 2018). "Conservative Bill Kristol brings his never-Trump message to New Hampshire". CBS News. Archived from the original on May 28, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
^Hennessey, Kathleen (June 16, 2015). "Donald Trump enters race, and GOP wonders: Presidency or reality TV?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
^Burns, Alexander (June 16, 2015). "Donald Trump, Pushing Someone Rich, Offers Himself". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
^Gass, Nick (May 4, 2016). "The 9 worst predictions about Trump's rise to the top". Politico. Archived from the original on May 12, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
^Gass, Nick (December 14, 2015). "Trump hits a new high in national poll". Politico. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
^Isenstadt, Alex (January 26, 2016). "Republicans point fingers: Who let Trump get this far?". Politico. Archived from the original on May 17, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
^Isenstadt, Alex (May 21, 2016). "Top former Romney aide launches anti-Trump super PAC". Politico. Archived from the original on May 17, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
^Burns, Alexander; Haberman, Maggie; Martin, Jonathan (February 27, 2016). "Inside the Republican Party's Desperate Mission to Stop Donald Trump". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 17, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
^Grim, Ryan; Velencia, Janie (March 15, 2016). "The Stop Trump Movement Got New Life In Ohio". HuffPost. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
^Hohmann, James (March 16, 2016). "The Daily 202: The Stop Trump movement's last realistic hope is now a contested convention in Cleveland". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
^Bradner, Eric (May 4, 2016). "5 takeaways from the Indiana primary". CNN. Archived from the original on May 5, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
^Mattingly, Terry (October 7, 2005). "American Solidarity Party seeks to spread its ideas, change". Go Knoxville. Knoxville News Sentinel. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
^Lawler, Peter Augustine (October 13, 2005). "Dylan, Never Trump, and Mike Maturen". National Review. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
^Demaria, Ed (May 9, 2016). In #NeverTrump Movement, Echoes of 1884's 'Mugwumps' Archived February 10, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. NBC News. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
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