Never Trump movement

The Never Trump movement began as an effort on the part of a group of Republicans and other prominent conservatives (known as Never Trump Republicans) to prevent Republican front-runner and now President of the United States Donald Trump from obtaining the Republican Party presidential nomination and following his nomination the presidency for the 2016 United States presidential election. Trump remained unsupported by 20 percent of Republican members of Congress in the general election. Following Trump's election in November 2016, some in the movement refocused their efforts on defeating Trump in 2020.

Quotes

 * I owe the Never Trumpers an apology. They were right all along. ... I regret not taking the Never Trump folks more seriously back in the day. I am not saying that the Republican Party should return to the status quo — it couldn’t if it wanted to, but it shouldn’t want to — but I am saying that the things that the Never Trumpers said about not making a deal with this devil were true, or at the very least more truthful than I gave them credit for at the time. And for that, I am sorry.
 * Rod Dreher, as quoted in "Judgment Day" (13 January 2021), by Charlie Sykes, Morning Shots


 * Who delivered more truth about Trump and Trumpism? The "NeverTrump" "hysterics" or mainstream, organized conservatism?
 * Jay Nordlinger, "Lies, Patriotism, and Consequences" (11 January 2021), National Review


 * Never-Trump means that you still believe in the Constitution. It means you knew what Benjamin Franklin meant when he warned that we Americans have been blessed with a republic, “if you can keep it.” It means you recognize that Trump is enough of a threat to our founding principles that you won’t vote for him under any circumstances.
 * Joe Walsh, "I’m no fan of Bernie Sanders. But #NeverTrump means never Trump." (25 February 2020), The Washington Post