'Never Trump' ringleader plots 3rd-party challenge

Donald Trump may have cleared the nomination path of other Republican presidential candidates, but to Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard – and one of the neoconservative movement's biggest names and loudest voices – the billionaire businessman is still a no-go who ought to be overtaken by a third-party person.

Kristol's Twitter account Thursday was awash with recent postings against Trump and for a third-party candidate, like former Sen. Tom Coburn or Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.

He wrote in one tweet: "I registered this domain months ago: neithertrumpnorhillary.com. I guess now we need to get to work. Could use help! @BenSasse, @GovHaleySC."

What do YOU think? Sound off on an anti-Trump third-party bid

In another, Kristol tweeted this line, alongside a message from Sasse that blasted a Trump presidency: "Americans won't settle for a choice like this ... if a representative of the people steps forward to offer a third way." And the attached link that led to Sasse's own Twitter post asked the question, in all caps: "WHY WOULD AMERICANS EVER SETTLE FOR A CHOICE LIKE THIS?" Clicking on that post led to another Sasse Twitter message that read: "But we 'have to' support him, 'because the only choice is Trump or Hillary.' ummm WHY?"

Kristol also tweeted: "Just so I get the order for yard signs right, is it Sasse-Coburn 2016, or Coburn-Sasse 2016?"

He posted in another Twitter message a link to Sasse's "Open letter to majority America" on Facebook that called for a candidate other than Trump.

Bill Kristol

The letter, in part, read: "TO: Those who think both leading presidential candidates are dishonest and have little chance of leading America forward ... If you are one of those rare souls who genuinely believe Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are honorable people – if they are the role models you want for your kids – then this letter is not for you. Instead, this letter is for the majority of Americans who wonder why the nation that put a man on the moon can't find a healthy leader who can take us forward together. ... [M] voicemail is overflowing with party bosses and politicos telling me that 'although Trump is terrible,' we 'have to' support him, 'because the only choice is Trump or Hillary.' This open letter aims simply to ask 'WHY is that the only choice?'"

Get the hottest, most important news stories on the Internet – delivered FREE to your inbox as soon as they break! Take just 30 seconds and sign up for WND's Email News Alerts!

Other Kristol tweets, all within the last few hours, include suggestions of a Republican Party demise due to Trump's likely nomination – and of a Kristol vice presidential slot as beating anything the billionaire businessman might offer.

"Watching accommodation & capitulation by McConnell, Rubio et al, one concludes: This is the way the GOP ends, not with a bang but a whimper," he wrote.

And another: "Another reason for @BenSasse run: The Twitter wars between Sasse & Trump would be epic. Meanwhile Hillary building a private Twitter server."

And another, in answer to a Sasse message about the need for a "moderate" candidate for vice president, that read in perhaps jest: "So @BenSasse is looking for an older, moderate VP? I'm reluctant, but if asked would of course feel a duty to serve."

Another tweet, from Gabriel Schoenfeld, retweeted by Kristol furthered that same premise: "@BillKristol is seeking 3rd party candidate who could take on Trump and Clinton. No conservative is better for the job than Kristol himself." Responding to that, Kristol wrote: "Since @gabeschoenfeld's tweet, the groundswell has been overwhelming: relatives ridiculing, colleagues chortling..."

GOP presidential debate

Yesterday, Kristol's Twitter feed was filled with more of the same.

He wrote on Wednesday: "If you're for Trump you functionally are for a man unfit to be president, & for the degradation of Am. conservatism." That one was in response to a tweet from Sean Hannity, Fox News analyst, who wrote: "If you're not for Trump you functionally are for @Hillary Clinton."

Also Wednesday, Kristol tweeted: "The battle for the 2016 GOP nomination is over. The battle for the soul of the Republican Party (or its successor) has just begun."

The Twitter barrage comes on the heels of a Newsmax TV interview Kristol had earlier this week with host Steve Malzberg during which the neocon appeared to soften a bit on his anti-Trump stance.

Can the Republican Party save itself? Richard Viguerie has the prescription in "Takeover."

In answer to a question about whether Trump could ever win his support, Kristol said: "For me, it's more a matter of character. I don't know that you can change your character at age 69, and given the things he's said even very recently about other people, the way he demeans other people. But I mean, I guess never say never. On the one hand, I'll say never Trump, and on the other hand, I'll say never say never and I'll leave it ambiguous."

And on CNN, also earlier this week, host Jake Tapper asked Kristol nearly point blank if he'd rather vote for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton than Trump. And Kristol's response?

"I'm not with Trump, but I'm not with [Clinton], so I'm looking for an independent candidate. I think there – Ben Sasse, Senator from Nebraska, very bright, young, promising senator has said he can't support Donald Trump and he doesn't want to support Hillary Clinton. Let Ben Sasse run, he can take Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, who would not accept being Trump's vice-presidential candidate. Maybe she would like to run with Sasse, they can argue about which order to have the ticket in. So, I'm saying right here on CNN, Sasse, Haley, Haley, Sasse, they're both fine with me. No, I would like there to be an independent Republican candidate because I can't support Trump, and I can't support Clinton."