Bill Kristol Declares There Will Be a 3rd-party Candidate Against Trump

In the early days of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, fearing that he might go independent if he did not get the GOP’s nomination, the Republican Establishment begged him not to because it would ensure a Hillary Clinton win.

Trump agreed.

Now that Trump has, fairly and squarely, won enough delegates in GOP primaries to be the party’s presidential nominee, GOP elites are doing exactly what they had asked Trump not to.

On Sunday, May 29, 2016, Bill Kristol, the so-called “neoconservative” (which really comes down to mean pro-war) editor of The Weekly Standard and son of Jewish parents “godfather of neoconservatism” Irving Kristol and Gertrude Himmelfarb, announced on Twitter: “There will be an independent candidate–an impressive one, with a strong team and a real chance.”

Breitbart reports that Bill Kristol has been trying for months to find a third-party challenger since his preferred candidates lost in the Republican primaries to Trump.

Kristol has floated names including Mitt Romney, Tom Cotton, and Marco Rubio as potential third-party spoilers. Kristol tried to get retired Marine Corps general James Mattis to run, but Mattis turned him down.

Kristol recently met with Romney in Washington, D.C., to talk about the idea. Romney has consistently bashed Trump throughout this election cycle, even after Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee. In January this year, Romney and Paul Ryan filed an intention to run for the presidency with the Federal Election Commision.

The Republican National Committee has condemned Kristol’s third-party scheme as “helping to elect Hillary Clinton.”

Mark Halperin and John Heilemann report for Bloomberg, March 30, 2016, that the person Kristol has in mind is David French, a staff writer at Weekly Standard, whose name Kristol floated in the magazine’s current issue.

French is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, a recipient of the Bronze Star, a constitutional lawyer, and author of several books. He lives in Columbia, Tenn., with his wife Nancy and three children.

Reached in Israel late yesterday afternoon, Kristol declined to comment but confirmed that French is open to launching a bid. French has not made a final decision and reportedly has not lined up a vice-presidential running mate or significant financial support. However, according to one person deeply involved in the efforts to recruit a 3rd party challenger, some conservative donors look favorably on the prospect of French entering the fray.