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Trump Dumps ‘Dummy Bill Kristol’ For Hinting At Anti-Trump Independent Spoiler Candidate

By Jeremy Laukkonen
Published on: 10:09 PST, May 30, 2016

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump tweeted his undisguised contempt for Bill Kristol Sunday night after the Weekly Standard editor warned that a high-profile, anti-trump independent presidential candidate is about to burst onto the scene. Trump referred to Kristol as a “dummy” and warned that any independent candidate could swing the election to Hillary Clinton.

Even as Trump attempts to shore up his nomination and assure the GOP base that his presidency wouldn’t tilt to the left, Kristol and other conservative pundits have continued to look for other options. Prior to Cruz and Kasich dropping out of the race when a contested convention still seemed possible, rumors even circulated that retired General James Mattis might run as an independent and be installed by the House in a contested election.

The Christian Science Monitor reports that Bill Kristol has spearheaded the #NeverTrump movement from the beginning, and Kristol still hasn’t given up the idea of finding an alternative or spoiler candidate.

bill kristol independent candidate
Bill Kristol says that a strong, independent candidate is about to challenge Donald Trump for the conservative vote. [Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]
On Sunday, Kristol tweeted that an independent candidate will soon emerge as a viable alternative to Trump or Clinton in the general election.

Kristol received immediate praise, followed just as quickly by attacks, for suggesting that the #NeverTrump movement is about to field an independent candidate.

Kristol’s strongest critic may have been Donald Trump himself, who took to Twitter Sunday evening to call the Weekly Standard editor a “lightweight” and a “dummy.”

The next president will likely be responsible for nominating several supreme court justices, which could effectively change the face of the highest court in the land.

Although Trump once suggested that his sister, a federal judge Ted Cruz called, “a hard-core pro-abortion liberal” would be a good choice for the Supreme Court, the presumptive nominee recently released a list of potential judges that are more fitting with the Republican party line.

trump bill kristol dummy
Trump says Bill Kristol is a “dummy” and will throw the election to Hillary. [AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta]
While Kristol has said that the mystery independent candidate would have a “real chance” of winning in November, strong third party candidates do tend to throw elections to one side or another. Just within the last few decades Ross Perot was blamed by many Republicans for siphoning votes away from their candidates in 1992 and 1996, while Ralph Nader was blamed by many Democrats for the contentious victory of George W. Bush in 2000.

According to Trump, “dummy Bill Kristol” will just throw the election to Hillary Clinton and effectively change the face of the Supreme Court for years to come, if an independent, anti-Trump candidate really does emerge.

Trump also slammed Bill Kristol as an “embarrassed loser” and called out the GOP for being unable to “control their own.”

Kristol has yet to elaborate on who the mystery candidate actually is, although he did mention former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in contrast to Trump, in a number of tweets over the holiday weekend. Romney and other big names, including Condoleeza Rice, have not expressed interest in running against Trump at this time.

Do you think that Bill Kristol really has a strong, independent candidate in his pocket to challenge Trump and Clinton in November, or would an anti-Trump candidate just act as a spoiler?

[Photo by Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]

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