The “Never-Trump” movement has never been more politically impotent than it is today. But Democrats just won’t let it die – even after it may have cost them big last November.
Rewind to nine years ago, the summer of 2016. Donald Trump’s stunning capture of the Republican presidential nomination initially seemed to fracture the party. High-profile GOP figures declared that they would support Hillary Clinton over their party’s nominee, creating a faction of “conservatives” who branded themselves “Never-Trumpers.”
Democrats were quick to amplify these voices, touting them as evidence that Trump was “dangerous,” a “threat to democracy,” and “unfit to serve.” The thought in liberal circles was that this apparent splintering of the GOP would doom the party to a permanent minority.
But then Trump won the 2016 election, lost a contest rife with alleged irregularities in 2020, and stormed back to the presidency in 2024. Far from dividing the party, Trump has unified the Republican base behind him – and against his establishment detractors.
Throughout all this time, Democrats have continued to prop up the Never-Trump movement, even as it became obvious that its adherents held no sway with voters, Republican or otherwise. Vice President Kamala Harris even spent the final days of her 2024 campaign on the trail with former Rep. Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was the vice chair of the infamous January 6 Committee and a strident Trump critic.
The Harris campaign hoped that Cheney would open the door to moderate female Republicans. They theorized that these women despised Donald Trump so much that they would vote against their values in record numbers for Harris. But as John Nichols pointed out in a post-election op-ed for The Nation, the ploy utterly backfired.
“While many Democratic tacticians were enthusiastic about Cheney’s jumping on board as a Harris backer, Republican voters couldn’t have cared less,” Nichols wrote. “The Cheney strategy was an abject failure that added few if any votes to the Democratic total, alienated voters who have no taste for the former GOP representative’s neocon extremism, and stole precious time from an agonizingly short campaign schedule.”
Still, however, Democrats couldn’t quit their obsession with Never-Trumpers. Not long after Election Day, Biden awarded Liz Cheney the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a blanket pardon – again angering much of the Democrat base.
Following his second inauguration, Trump has delivered one of the most successful first months of any administration in history. Opinion polls show that he is more popular than ever, and Americans broadly approve of his policy agenda.
But that hasn’t stopped Never-Trump organizations like The Lincoln Project from continuing to churn out anti-Trump content to an increasingly disinterested audience. Founded in 2019 by former Republican consultants, the political action committee was explicitly sold to liberal donors as a vehicle to win over a proverbial bloc of Never-Trump Republican voters.
Now that mission is a moot point – Trump has won the White House twice and is term-limited. Yet The Lincoln Project is continuing to solicit donations to fund the “resistance” against Trump.
Despite The Lincoln Project raising more than $90 million in the 2020 cycle, only a small fraction of those funds were spent on actual anti-Trump advertisements and voter outreach. Reports revealed that approximately $50 million in donations went to firms controlled by the organization’s leaders. Moreover, Trump managed to grow his GOP voter support in 2020, undermining the group’s stated mission of swaying Republican voters against him.
In 2024, the Lincoln Project spent millions backing Kamala Harris and finished the year with $863,000 in unpaid invoices. Clearly, the group has entered a political quagmire. Yet these Never-Trumpers are still sending out scores of fundraising emails and texts, attempting to rally support against Trump’s cabinet picks.
Another Never-Trump staple, The Bulwark, has fared slightly better. Founded as an anti-Trump news and opinion site by former Republican operatives in 2018, the platform is reportedly “amassing between 700 and 1,000 new paid subscribers about every day or two,” according to New York Magazine.
The site claims its growth is because the outlet is “centrist.” A brief review of The Bulwark’s video titles, however, immediately casts doubt on that assertion. Such headings as “WATCH: Tim Miller WRECK Trump Apologist LIVE!” or “Tim Gets Piers Morgan to ADMIT Republicans Are HYPOCRITES Over Elon Musk” hardly seem “centrist.” Far from appealing to disaffected Republicans, it seems more likely that The Bulwark’s growth is thanks to the same Democrat partisans already binge-watching CNN and MSNBC.
Ultimately, propping up the Never Trump movement was never truly about winning over disgruntled establishment Republicans. It was always just a coping mechanism for Democrat elites to justify their rabid hatred of Trump – even to the point of using lawfare to attempt to impoverish and imprison him.
But in the process of cozying up to their former political opponents to advance a personal vendetta, Democrats may have unintentionally placed themselves in the political no man’s land that Never Trumpers have been mired in from the very beginning.
Andrew Shirley is a veteran speechwriter and AMAC Newsline columnist. His commentary can be found on X at @AA_Shirley.
The overall God-rejecting population of the world, instead of humbling themselves, will execute even more frenetic and ungodly activities like trolling conservative groups as they sense that their perversion and debauchery are being rejected.
Regardless to their defeat: they will still want to enforce their evils upon us.
As the unbelieving NWO globalists of the world perceive that their assumed control of the world’s population of “useless eaters” is not going according to their plan, they will execute even more desperate measures to try and regain control.
Do not be surprised by this.
For my sisters and brothers who have received Jesus Christ and are observing these events, we patiently endure and remember that God will restrain evil and keep us from the hour of trial until all His purposes are fulfilled. Revelation 3 :10
It is ONLY by God’s grace that we are here.
With all the attacks on President Trump he and America should be gone. But the Lord has spared him and America – for God’s purposes in history.
God alone has given us the gift of an opportunity to do the infinity of things necessary to restore this nation to its foundations.
Can we do it?
We must.
It is why God has restrained evil and spared a little more time for those who can be saved.
For such a time as this.
The current batch anti-Trump Demos are dying but haven’t realized it yet. What scares me now is all of the new anti-Trumpers lurking in the shadows waiting for the command to engage those in the public with their new rhetoric against our nation. Despite the victory, the war continues between good and evil.
It’s beyond mind blowing that these Trump hating individuals have so much hate for one man. How intelligent can they actually be when the proof of President Trump’s ability to lead our nation to greatness is so obvious. I feel sorry for them as they are rotting from the inside out. “ Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23
The news media and so-called never Trumpers always try to put Republicans into a category of being extreme right. What is that? It is anyone who does not agree with the left, socialist Democrats. They say that Republicans would be better off backing a centrist as candidates. What is that? It simply is that a centrist is someone who will do Democrat policies only slower. The voters last November showed we are not going to fall for that anymore. We want real Republican principles in our candidates and that is how we will vote!
Democrats are enemies of America!
The entire Democrat Party and all voters who call themselves Democrat, are now and have been for many years, a two faced, lying bunch of hypocrites. They will preach in their Campaigns for Office that they are peace loving and accepting of all people. They will preach that they do not discriminate and want nothing more than to help you. BUT, and that is the big word, if you are a Republican, if you are a Christian, and if you ever voted for or said a kind word about Donald Trump or supported him or any of his programs or Cabinet picks in any way, you are to be shunned and demonized every bit as much as they demonize Trump at every opportunity. If you read any Social Media post, the most innocent post can turn ugly in a heartbeat. An example was yesterday, as I was reading a post on the layoffs at Southwest Airlines, it instantly turned into Trump’s fault. One person even said that the people who lost their jobs deserved it because they probably voted for him. Democrats are a crazy bunch, which is a much nicer description than some of their more rabid descriptions of Republicans. Trump Derangement Syndrome in full swing there.
The DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS LIBERALS REGIME IS “STILL” HELLBENT ON DESTROYING AMERICA ANY WAY THEY CAN AND STILL BLAME IT ON TRUMP WHEN IT’S VERY CLEAR THAT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY (IN THE BILLIONS NOW) BEING RECOVERED FROM FRAUDULENT GOVERNMENT, THAT IN PARTICULAR HAS BEEN UNDER THE LIBERALS REGIME AND NOW THEY ARE ALL “SQUIRMING” BECAUSE THEY WILL BE CUT OFF FROM THEIR FRAUDULENT EARNINGS THEY FEEL “ENTITLED” TO AND DON’T KNOW HOW TO ACT! THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP AND ELON MUSK!
The hatred that has emerged for Trump from the day he announced he was running for president of the USA. Has not been dissected, explained. These progressives have tried now for 8 years to destroy him. He won reelection by a landslide. And now we have every day, politicians mind you, demonstrating. Not the people. The handful of people that do show up at these political demonstrations are paid to be there. The progressives say Trump has to go so we can sleep at night. Why? He is auditing the waste, fraud, abuse, corruption in government for the taxpayers. Why are these progressives so upset about that? Could it be jealousy because they can’t get anything done? They couldn’t secure our borders. Get a cease fire in the Middle East or the hostages released. 4 Deceased hostages came home today. 2 of them little children. Where was Biden, Blinken et al? Peace talks are going on with Russia and Europe over the Ukraine. Where was Biden. We all know where: BLAMING TRUMP. All this does not explain the mind set of the progressives, the democrats why they fight anything Trump. I have as of today not seen a logical explanation of this phenomenon. Because what the dems and progressives are doing is destroying America instead of working to make Trumps policies even better. Out of the gate Trumps proposals are met with disdain followed by lawsuits in courts where the same mind set judges rule. The negativity and hatred coming from the left is a sickness. No wonder they can’t sleep at night. Their souls have been taken over by Satan.
Dems have brought this nation to the brink of disaster. Their adacity and hypocrisy knows no limits and they’ll remain dormant until they rise up again. Like roaches they remain hidden until the light of reason and truth make them scatter. This nation must remain vigilant or their plight on the American people will return. President Trump must continue to expose this cabal and the real ringleaders or we’ll be doomed to repeat it. Americans have short memories and left know it.
The whiny do nothing Democrats should focus their energy on ways to make this country better instead of trying to buy votes with illegal immigration and handouts. The waste and fraud that President Trump and Elon Musk are finding should be used to reduce this nations debt, and hopefully expose the people responsible for the waste.
They are still planning an overthrow, but have a lot less money to do so now!
Some zombies… apparently they only eat their OWN brains!
Reluctantly and probably lying when I say Damnocraps have a brain, but the part of the their brain that is supposed to control Common Sense and rational thinking and reasoning is TRULY NOT CONNECTED OR FUNCTIONING. Liberalism is without question, a MOST SERIOUS MENTAL DISORDER. They, as a ‘party’ have PROVEN THE FACTUAL DEFINITION OF INSANITY – DOING THE SAME THING (OR SAYING THE SAME THING) OVER AND OVER AND EXPECTING A DIFFERENT RESULT.
The mentally deprived, low IQ, and ignorantly arrogant Dems will NEVER UNDERSTAND OR ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT ‘WE THE PEOPLE’.
Everything they do is wrong. Every decision they make is wrong. They have no idea what to do or how to do it. Let them hang themselves. They will never win another election
sicknesses like this only die when all the “germs” have been killed
Such great, insightful, provocative, and positive articles. Thank you, Andrew Shirley.
Honesty and authenticity has prevailed. May it always be so. Ben Carson nailed it early in the 1st administration. The more Trump is attacked the harder he fights. Accomplishing what he is doing takes effort, way more than most people put into whatever they are trying to do.. Our president works hard and thank heavens he thrives on working hard.
The radical left that is totally deranged with their hate for President Trump is not smart enough to figure out that we, the people are not buying what they are selling which is Communism. They continue to spew hateful lies about Trump and now Musk and the cabinet members Trump has nominated. I pray every day that President Trump remains safe from harm by these harpies!!
While America’s favorite pastime is baseball, democrats favorite pastime is doubling down on stupid, and RINOs, let’s be clear, are no republicans but merely undercover democrats. Much like McConnell, you can always tell their party affiliation not by the R or D, but by their doubling down pattern, and you can’t fix …
Democrats shouldn’t be surprised that most Republicans won’t vote against their values. Perhaps the Democrats mistaking their own Vices for values is the reason for that!
“There but for the grace of God, go I.”
COMMUNIST===DEMOCRAT! THESE PEOPLE HATE CAPITALISM, OUR CONSTITUTION AND BILL OF RIGHTS.
The Democrat Party (my Grandparents party) is already dead. Thanks to AOC and Jasmine Crockett…Ilham Omar and the other Dingbats of the Apocalypse. RIP.
These individuals have to be the dumbest of the dumb. They just don’t get it and they believe the longer and louder the scream that the rest of us will succumb to their lunacy. All their doing is turning more and more people off, so I say “Let them eat cake!” Hopefully they’ll get some desperately needed psychiatric help. LOL
Radical Democrats remind me of the old west story about the “cowboys gang”. A radical bunch that demands everything be their way or there will be violent repercussions. The radical left has to have their power broken for real. Remove all of the corrupt judges and other authorities.
The democrat politicians, channels ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, and CNN are so stupid and full of hate; I do think they are insane. They are so uninformed, it is hard to believe. Just fools! But they make a lot of money for talking about BS.
Hopefully, more voters will recognize the LEFT resistance for what it is. Those who oppose audits in the FED and sunshine in government activities are the culprits creating the corrupt bureaucracy. We need to continue this movement to reduce government and the gravy train the LEFT profits from.
All the democrats are doing is to change the subject and take the focus off themselves that they’re all criminals that should be held accountable for their corruption to the extent of having their loyal [brainless] followers for support.
Never Trumpers, deluded DemoKKKRATS and assorted psychos who deride President Trump live in a world of delusions and distortions that is virtually unbreakable. They cannot even rationally define their positions in rational arguments, resorting to cursing, screaming, singing and violence. They are irrational and should be ignored.
These people are on the wrong side of history — period! It may take awhile for them to fade away, but in the end, they will become little more than a minor (and unimportant) footnote hidden in the dust bins of history.
What keeps whacking us upside the head is the lack of rational and logic. What we have in this anti-Trumper movement is a dark force, completely outside the world of logic and reason. We already experienced 4 years of Trump, which was magnificent by any logical standard, and during which Trump learned just how evil and dark the left and leftist “media” (propagandia) are, along with the sad truth that many Republicrats are actuall statists, and though pretending at conservatism are anything but conservative. As an old biker (NO, not the spandex variety), I’m far removed from the world of religiosity, But I can’t deny the obvious influence of a dark force hovering over our politic. Demonicrat is more than a humorous moniker, it is a fact!
The Dragon might be wounded and somewhat cornered but it has enough fire left to fight and spew, it will not stop unless there if no fire left, there seems to be plenty yet. Dept. of edu has to go to stop breading fodder. All the stockers with it. Let the source dry out
TDS is a terrible affliction even among RINO, which there are plenty of. Republicans in congress have been enabling corruption in Washington DC for a very long time.
No suprise! The Democrats are SORE LOSERS! We the people know this!
Beleive me President Trump is Quite Aware of the there disgust,of Losing the 2024 Election.
We the People are prepared for there ONSLAUGHT!
Cannot believe Trump said that Vellenskyy should not have started the Ukraine war with Russia. Russia invaded Ukraine & Trump talks about the millions of soldiers that have been killed, but does not mention the innocent civilians killed & hospitals bombed and power plants bombed and etc. Trump also says V is a dictator & that only has 4 % popular polls & how does he know that & who is left to poll? Horrible war and crimes against humanity.