Hall of Shame

Today, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said he would vote for the bigoted, misogynistic business failure. It seemed a good time to list others who have now put party above principle (or country). Here are the most prominent with their former quotes about the man.

(Note: updated as the Hall of Shame grows)

06 June, 2016 Update
Lindsay Graham removed from the Hall of Shame. His comment today:

      Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, another former primary rival of Mr. Trump’s, urged Republicans who have backed Mr. Trump to rescind their endorsements, citing the remarks about Judge Curiel and Mr. Trump’s expression of doubt on Sunday that a Muslim judge could remain neutral in the same lawsuit, given Mr. Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim noncitizens entering the country.

     “This is the most un-American thing from a politician since Joe McCarthy,” Mr. Graham said. “If anybody was looking for an off-ramp, this is probably it,” he added. “There’ll come a time when the love of country will trump hatred of Hillary.”

Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House

"This is not conservatism," Ryan said. "What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for, and more importantly, it’s not what this country stands for...I told our members this morning to always strive to live up to our highest ideals, to uphold those principles in the Constitution on which we swear every two years that we will defend."

Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has prepared an alternate plan to run Republican Senate candidates separately from Donald Trump, should he be the GOP presidential nominee, according to a report. "We'll drop him like a hot rock" in the general election. (Washington Examiner, 2/27/2016)

John McCain, Arizona Senator

"I would also echo the many concerns about Mr. Trump’s uninformed and indeed dangerous statements on national security issues that have been raised by 65 Republican defense and foreign policy leaders."

 Chris Christie, New Jersey Governor

During a January event in New Hampshire, Christie called Trump one of the "carnival barkers of today. Showtime is over. We are not electing an entertainer-in-chief. Showmanship is fun, but it is not the kind of leadership that will truly change America."

Marco Rubio, Florida Senator

“He is a guy who has been protected his whole life, and privileged his whole life, and insulated his life. There’s nothing tough about any of that. This is a massive fraud that he is perpetuating.” 

"If Donald Trump is the nominee, that’s the end of the Republican Party." 

Reince Priebus, Republican Party Chair

(Never criticized the business failure.)

Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House

"very, very destructive" and an example of him going "off the deep end."

And there are too many more. Today, Karl Rove announced he's meeting with the business failure and will presumably fall into line. All who do are complicit.

Notably, there are a few holdouts, a few prominent Republicans who if not outright opposing the business failure, are refusing to get in line. 

Mitt Romney, former GOP presidential nominee 
Jeb Bush, former Florida governor
George W. Bush, former president
George H.W. Bush, former president
Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard
Lindsay Graham, South Carolina Senator

Arnold Schwarzenegger, former California Governor
 

The question remains: will these have the courage to step out and actively oppose him?