n data-reactid="4">What causes people to draw ethical lines and purport to stand on principle? In February 2016, as it became clearer and clearer that Donald Trump was on track to win the nomination of the Republican Party for president, some of its elites took fright. The hashtag #NeverTrump “blew up” on social media, Robert P. Saldin and Steven M. Teles remark in their new book, when the host of The Apprentice won endorsements from the likes of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, his beaten foe in the primaries, and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, his future attorney general. Suddenly the bad joke of the Republican primary was anything but funny.


Claiming to be torn between principle and loyalty to their party, Never Trumpers rose above the usual careerist opportunism and short-term gain, Saldin and Teles believe. Democracy itself was at stake. In the face of populism, an assortment of normally gray and straitlaced national security experts, political operatives, and “public intellectuals” (scare quotes for those unsure Jonah Goldberg and Kevin D. Williamson should count) felt called upon to go rogue. They could not shirk the grave responsibility of the moment: Sacrificing their influence in their own party, they resolved to criticize its leader from the outside in hopes of winning it back. Aiming to save the country from ruin, some even voted for Hillary Clinton.

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