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.
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 SenatorMarco 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]