Never Trump-ers face the future

Numerous “Never Trump” Republicans issued conciliatory statements in the wake of Donald Trump’s shocking victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, but they disagreed on the best path forward.

“Congratulations to President-elect @realDonaldTrump and VP-elect @mike_pence. You have my prayers for wisdom and blessing as you lead us,” tweeted Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, who was perhaps the most vocal evangelical Trump opponent.

Shortly after Clinton conceded the election early Wednesday morning, Moore published a blog entry on his website urging Christians to pray for Trump, but he offered a fairly bleak outlook. He said conservative evangelicals are “politically homeless,” whether they know it or not.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., the earliest and most vocal member of Congress to oppose Trump, issued a statement congratulating the president-elect on his victory. Sasse said he would pray for Trump to faithfully keep his oath and push him to keep promises “to fight for an ethics reform package that upends cronyism and enacts term limits; to lead on repealing and replacing Obamacare; and to nominate judges who reject law-making by unelected courts.”

Republicans who refused to back Trump tried and failed to convince a top-tier candidate such as Sasse, former Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, or 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney to mount a third-party campaign for president. Former CIA officer Evan McMullin, a political unknown, eventually launched an independent bid, but he finished with less than 1 percent of the vote, despite landing some notable endorsements and a vote from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

McMullin didn’t back down from his position in the aftermath of Trump’s win. He called on supporters to abandon the Republican Party, saying it is no longer the best home for conservatives.

“Conservatism is about protecting the fundamental rights: That we are all equal, regardless of the color of our skin, the faith that we practice, or our gender,” he said. “But tonight there are millions of Americans, I’m sad to say, who are now in fear that perhaps their liberties will be challenged and threatened under a Trump administration that has made a campaign of targeting people based on their race, religion, and gender.”

McMullin announced plans to start an organization called “The New Conservative Movement.”

Other avowed Never Trump conservatives expressed mixed feelings over the election results.

“My Never Hillary self is deeply gratified,” tweeted National Review writer David French, who last summer briefly considered running for president. “I’m unambiguously thrilled about the House and Senate [victories]. I hope my Never Trump self was very wrong.”

In a blog post, French admitted he vastly underestimated Trump and urged dissenters to unite to “declare that life, liberty, and constitutional governance must prevail.”

Blogger and radio host Erick Erickson, who endorsed McMullin, struck a similar tone. Erickson acknowledged his erroneous predictions and said he hoped he would be wrong about Trump’s performance as president.

“Donald Trump and [Vice President-elect] Mike Pence are now explicit parts of God’s plans, and I pray for them and wish them well,” Erickson wrote. “They now have a heavy burden on them and the weight of a nation in turmoil pressing down on them.”

Former Republican administration officials Bill Wichterman and Peter Wehner, both outspoken Trump critics, did not immediately offer public comment on Tuesday’s results. When reached via email, Wehner told me Trump’s victory shocked and dismayed him, but he would continue to advance the conservative principles and issues in which he believes.

“Republicans will still need an agenda to advance,” he said. “It is not as if Donald Trump was a candidate overflowing with ideas.”

Pastor and theologian John Piper, who said last week he would not vote for either of the major party candidates, did not comment directly on the election results, but he tweeted two Bible verses Wednesday morning, including Hosea 10:12: “It is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.”