I stand proudly as a member of the #NeverTrump movement, whose membership has been riddled with defections recently because many Republicans have decided to bow to the inevitability of The Donald as the Republican nominee for president. Those formerly stellar Republicans include Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who thinks Republican unity “trumps” all misgivings about Trump, New Gingrich, Ed Rollins, Chris Christie and Rick Perry. It’s Trump or Hillary, this line of thinking goes, and do we really want another four to eight years of Barack Obama-lite?
Courageously and sensibly, Republican politicians such as Jeb and George Bush I and II, Paul Ryan, Ben Sasse and Lindsey Graham have refused to endorse Trump, as have many conservative pundits, including George F. Will and the staffs of the magazines National Review and The Weekly Standard.
For their refusal, (I’m with them) they are all accused of being condescending “elitists” gazing down from their ivory towers at the great unwashed of Trump supporters who are too dumb to grasp the nuances of politics, the intricacies of public policy, and the vagaries of international relations.
This charge needs examining. Is it “elitist” to refuse to support a man who has mocked a New York Times reporter with a congenital joint condition? At a rally in South Carolina last November, Trump said of the reporter, Serge Kovaleski, “Ah, the poor guy — you’ve got to see this guy!” and began jerking his arms in front of his body.
Is it “elitist” to refuse to support a thrice-married man who brags of his extra-marital affairs, while calling women he doesn’t like “fat pigs,” “ugly,” and “disgusting”?
Is it “elitist” to refuse to support a bigot who calls Hispanics “rapists” and wants to bar all Muslims from entering America?
Is it “elitist” for a Republican to refuse to support a candidate who is not a Republican — a candidate who has called for a single-payer healthcare plan even more liberal than Obamacare? A candidate who supported the $800 billion stimulus package that President Obama wasted on “green” companies such as the now-bankrupt Solyndra (costing U.S. taxpayers $536 million). Or a candidate who has been pro-abortion, or one who threatens to limit freedom of the press?
Is it “elitist” to refuse to support a candidate who says his business success means an economic recovery, yet has filed for bankruptcy multiple times, and whose businesses include a university, Trump University, that gouged its students for $36,000 a year in tuition, then folded, forcing those students to sue for a tuition refund?
I think not. So let me ask of Trump’s Republican supporters, is it ideologically acceptable, let alone morally defensible, to support a candidate who is guilty of all of the above?
