Never Trumpers’ short-sightedness has drawn them to bad political bedmates

The media have been fascinated with the incredibly rare anti-Trump Republican. While polls find 90% of Republican voters intend to vote for Trump, reporters continue to ignore them and obsess over the rare outliers. These intrepid souls, willing to endure overexposure, are lavished with lucrative commentator roles, flattering profiles, and renewed relevance. However, as the novelty of dismissing Trump in increasingly strident terms has worn off, some of these media darlings are now discovering the need to pursue a second act to maintain the attention. They have chosen to target the entire Republican Party and its Senate majority in particular.

While many establishment Republicans opposing Trump simply resent their diminished influence, there are principled reasons they could cite. First, Trump has explicitly broken with traditional Republican positions on trade and immigration, imposing tariffs and reducing even legal immigration. Before his election, there was strong mainstream Republican support for Trade Promotion Authority and the idea of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, if not Barack Obama’s specific deal, as a hedge against China’s growing influence. Second, Trump has demonstrated no interest in deficit reduction and open hostility to entitlement reform. Both were hallmark priorities of Speaker Paul Ryan, the Republican nominee for vice president in 2012…

Read more: Washington Examiner