#NeverTrump vows to trudge on even now that they can't stop Donald Trump

Donald Trump beat #NeverTrump Republicans — (Image credit: DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

The #NeverTrump Republicans conceded on Tuesday night that Donald Trump's "victory in Indiana makes the road ahead more challenging" for the movement that exists, as Never Trump senior adviser Rory Cooper said in a statement, "to challenge Donald Trump's ascent to the Republican nomination." But Cooper said the campaign will continue, presumably to focus on the other part of the group's existential mission: to "distinguish [Trump's] demagoguery from that of the conservative cause."

Trump, if nominated, will "lose in historic fashion," Cooper predicted, but Never Trump will work toward "protecting Republican incumbents and down-ballot candidates" by telling voters that Trump doesn't represent these candidates' "values and principles," thus helping avoid a "wave election." The statement ended on a semantic note, pointing out that "never does not mean maybe."

With Trump inevitable, the #NeverTrump movement has "morphed" into something like "a not-so-secret society of like-minded stalwarts who are adopting #NeverTrump as a personal philosophy, instead of a call to arms," S.E. Cupp says at CNN. They may no longer be able to actually stop Trump, but they will keep an eye on which Republicans switch from criticizing Trump to backing him, and "for #NeverTrump, there will be long memories and little forgiveness for anyone who caves."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.