Donald Trump GOP Announcement - H 2015
AP ImagesWhen Donald Trump announced his bid for presidency on Tuesday morning, his campaign speech was met with mixed reactions: Hollywood was abuzz with jokes, late night hosts took their jabs at the real estate mogul, but most surprisingly — many conservatives are now aggressively distancing themselves from Trump’s campaign.
From George Will to Karl Rove, here are four conservative party members who won’t be voting for Trump this upcoming election season — and why.
1. George Will
The columnist has had an ongoing feud with Trump since 2012, when Will dubbed the Apprentice star (then involved with Mitt Romney‘s presidential campaign) a “bloviating ignoramus” who is “redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low and you can still intrude into American politics.” Earlier this year in April, prior to Trump’s official announcement, Will expressed his hopes that Trump would be “tempted to run, be predictably shellacked, and we will be spared evermore this quadrennial charade of his.” Trump has also traded insults with Will, calling him a “political moron” on Twitter.
2. Charles Krauthammer
Trump has called out Krauthammer multiple times on his Twitter, most recently in early June when he tweeted: “@krauthammer pretends to be a smart guy, but if you look at his record, he isn’t. A dummy who is on too many Fox shows. An overrated clown!” His message was in reference to a Fox News segment in which Krauthammer was shown discussing a recent poll in which Trump received 59 percent of votes in a poll about candidates that republicans would never vote for; the conservative columnist called Trump’s results an “impressive 59 percent” and dubbed his campaign one that is “run on know-nothing xenophobia.”
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3. Karl Rove
Rove referred to Trump as a “complete idiot” in a keynote speech delivered to the American Legion Boys State meeting at the University of Central Missouri and has called out the reality star for “choking” on running for president multiple times. “He says he’s gonna run … and ultimately decides his TV program is more important then his presidential campaign,” Rove told Fox News in January. Their exchange of insults dates back several years. In 2013, Trump tweeted: “Karl Rove is a total loser. Money given to him might as well be thrown down the drain.”
4. Michelle Malkin
The conservative blogger called Trump out during a Fox News segment in 2011, saying that he “built his entire empire in defiance of core Tea Party principle. It’s time for those conservatives who’ve been flirting with Donald Trump to get serious themselves.” Following Trump’s official bid for presidency on June 16, Malkin tweeted: “Getting emails from conservatives ‘welcoming’ Ronald McDonald Chump. Would be refreshing to see more conservatives telling him to f— off.”
