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Conservatives vs NeverTrump
Sarah Rumpf from RedState published a defense of NeverTrump and its existence among “conservative” circles. Among those who are not “openly” Democrats, NeverTrump’s high profile members include quintessential douchebag Rick Wilson and former pretend presidential candidate McMuffin. This article was praised by said douchebag and even caught the recognition of Erick Erickson, one of the former prominent figures of NeverTrump back in 2016. Rumpf’s first argument was as followed in response to Sean Davis:
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/927956609833324544
The Federalist’s Sean Davis accused Never Trumpers of pushing gun control, opposing tax reform, mocking gun owners, and voting for pro-abortion Democrats.
In doing so she asserts that her brand of NeverTrumpers is not pushing for these things. Whoopdidoo. She might have a case there. But we wouldn’t know. Because what do NeverTrumpers stand for? That’s the question and Rumpf doesn’t answer it with anything other than opposition to Trump. She then feels the need to incorrectly point out that NeverTrumpers aren’t celebrating Democrat victories.
Pollak’s insistence that we are happy about Gillespie’s loss is beyond bizarre considering his inability to quote a tweet where a Never Trumper actually said they were happy about it. To the contrary, Pollak quoted Rick Wilson’s tweet where he literally said: “I’m not celebrating [Democrat] wins.”
It didn’t take long for me to find tweets she claimed didn’t exist. In fact the tweet directly below was retweeted by Rick Wilson.
#NeverTrump Twitter tonight to MAGA be like… pic.twitter.com/4QU4Ol9Cch
— YS (@NYinLA2121) November 8, 2017
.@EdWGillespie was one of the good guys, but now he peddles fear and white nationalism. It’s better for VA and America that he not prevail.
— Evan McMullin (@EvanMcMullin) November 7, 2017
Human beings are smug by nature when we are right and our opponents wrong. I’m this way and so is Sarah Rumpf. And that’s what the NeverTrump movement was on Tuesday. They can claim all they want that they aren’t celebrating it, but their actions and vocal “I told you sos” speak otherwise. It’s hard not to feel elevated when you can shake your finger at an opponent. Given McMuffin’s tweet, which she defends, it’s pretty clear that he is satisfied with a Democrat victory.
After mainly focusing on her opponents tweets, she then makes a more principled argument comparing the language use of NeverTrump critics to liberals throughout modern history.
The foundational problem of these critics of “Never Trump” is that they are attempting to force those two words into a box of their own false definition.
This was a decent point in 2016. She follows it up with defining NeverTrump.
NeverTrump Has No Standards
“Never Trump” simply means we do not believe Trump is fit to be POTUS.
Plain and simple, this is what “Never Trump” means: I do not believe Donald Trump has the temperament, ethical foundation, moral code, intellectual ability, or emotional steadiness to be fit for the job of President of the United States. He lacks respect for the Constitutional principles upon which America was founded.
Sometimes when people irrationally hate someone, they list all the things that they perceive to be wrong with them. Historically speaking, this list would make several past Presidents unfit, not that they are all good. This list is not quantifiable and is subjective with every point. Though agreeable as some of these may be, a common agreement does not merit what a once conservative movement has become. Rumpf then focuses on Trump’s past. This argument is nothing new, however, Trump’s ethical history is rather comparable to McCain’s and Hillary’s. What’s the point of a movement where the ethical standards only are designed for only a single person to be found unworthy?
We could play this game with several candidates NeverTrump believes to be better than Trump. At times, Trump was a shady businessman, an adulterer, a liar, and then some. Gillespie was a lobbyist for companies like Enron. He was never one of the good guys as McMuffin stated. His opposition is only because he used Trump’s playbook. John McCain lied to his constituents repeatedly. He’s one of the most corrupt Senators to dwell the swamp for decades. But somehow Trump is unacceptable as President and not McCain, on the basis of personal morality. If NeverTrump was about embracing candidates with standards, whom do they embrace? McFuffin, who pretended to run for president in a scam to capitalize on a movement? The pro-abortion “libertarian”? The modern day Warren Harding? Jill Stein? SMOD? Having standards for candidate is ideal. Creating a lasting movement because one candidate fails these standards in order to fulfill a sense of self righteousness is entirely different. This is precisely what NeverTrump is doing.
NeverTrump Has No Cause
First, he is unique among modern American politicians in being extraordinarily difficult to classify along traditional liberal-conservative lines, because depending on the issue, he might be liberal, moderate, conservative, or flip-flopping back and forth (or, as his supporters would say, “evolving”) so much it’s impossible to really say.
Second, whether or not Trump is conservative does not actually have any bearing on his fitness for the office of President. I would strongly prefer a pro-life, conservative President, but liberal politics alone do not make a President unfit for office.
I disagree with the first point. The political spectrum goes left and right and up and down. Trump is somewhere north and slightly to the right. The second point calls into question whether policies have bearing on whether someone is fit for Presidency. To some degree they must. How can someone be fit to uphold the Constitution if they seek to push violations of it? The argument then persists in asserting that NeverTrumpers aren’t Democrats. Maybe her NeverTrumpers aren’t, but Democrats adopted the hashtag and the movement.
The reality is that the heart of being Never Trump is deeply connected to conservative principles. We see the divisions that Trump has encouraged in our party and in the country at large, and are worried about his long-term effects on the viability of the conservative movement.
Really? The only thing we know about NeverTrump is that they oppose Trump. Don’t tell me that McMuffin is a conservative. He promotes the Russian Farce, supports DACA, gay marriage and more. How principled conservatives are Flake, McCain, and Corker whom McMuffin compliments. Rumpf begins her conclusion by stating that he and Rick Wilson and Bill Kristol are not the leaders of the movement.
I’m not in charge of the movement either — mainly because there isn’t actually a movement.
Now that the campaign is over, those who identify as Never Trump are — surprise! — still thinking and acting individually. McMullin was one of a very small minority of Never Trumpers who did not support Gillespie, but his tweet was used to attack all of us…. Some of us feel it is best to attempt to continue fighting for reform within the GOP, some want to start a new third party, and some support Joel Searby’s Centrist Project approach.
The bottom line is that Never Trump has no organizational structure, no one issuing marching orders or talking points, no set of rules or membership requirements. We just aren’t going to vote for Trump, and feel no compulsion to defend his behavior from legitimate criticisms.
She contradicts herself bigly. If their only cause is disliking Trump, how can their movement be centered around conservatism, especially when she claims some support centrism third party as opposed to a small government party.
Conclusion
NeverTrump is all about voicing opposition towards Trump and is in no way, in 2017, a means of advancing conservatism. For this reason conservatism is best served abandoning the NeverTrump movement. Sean Davis concludes his thread with an observation that many former NeverTrumpers have come to.
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/927959192366960642
Whereas once Conservatives were NeverTrump because we wanted to Carpe Diem the 2016 election with a conservative candidate. Instead we have Trump. Not a great victory, but there’s still a chance to get things done. I used to consider myself NeverTrump, but I’ve grown from that finding a greater purpose in principles rather than a single man. I hold no butthurt towards Trump supporters for me being wrong, and I am glad he’s the POTUS out of the scrub field of candidates.
Here at NOQReport we have conservatives who like, hate, and somewhere in between on Trump. We have people who voted for Trump, regrettably for McMuffin, maybe a Johnson in here too, or some write-ins. That was then and it’s cool. We all don’t have to have the same opinion on Trump. And that’s the point I make. We are for something, and that is conservative principles. When your entire political framework is centered around one person, you are no better than the Trump cultist or the Resistance. In fact, this is just another form of identity politics, a hallmark of leftism. Conservatives stand for conservative principles whether Trump stands for them or not. Our political worldview has nothing to do with Trump. That is why we aren’t NeverTrump.
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