The “Never Trump” Movement Just Died At The Republican National Convention

CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 18: Sen. Mike Lee, (R-UT) (C) and Phill Wright, Vice Chair of the Utah State Delegation (L) shout no to the adoption of rules without a roll call vote on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

It’s all over but the shouting. A last-ditch effort to deny Donald Trump the Republican Party’s presidential nomination was quickly silenced on the opening day of his party’s convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

Here’s the short version of what happened: opponents of Trump wanted to free up delegates to support another candidate. Currently, delegates from states Trump won are bound to support him on the opening vote, giving him more than enough support to formally become the nominee. The Republican Party was having none of it and shut down the protest vote with authority.

Here’s the more detailed version: On Monday, a small group of delegates from nine states, took to the convention floor to try and force a roll-call vote on the convention rules. The roll-call, the group hoped, would delay the convention and inspire enough delegates to dissent against their state’s wishes and vote for the candidate of their own choice.

Videos of the chaos on the floor quickly streamed to social media where “Never Trump” supporters could be heard chanting “roll-call vote” over and over.

Gordon Humphrey, a New Hampshire delegate and man who has been working with the Delegates Unbound and Free the Delegates, told The Huffington Post, “Donald Trump is so ignorant of anything that he hasn’t a clue what is going on here in general or in detail.”

In the end, however, the group lost their bid for a roll-call vote, eliminating their chances of a coup in the last minute thus forcing delegates to vote along their state’s primary results. That’s because the convention chairman claimed that three of the nine states withdrew their request for a roll call, meaning the “Never Trump” movement lost the minimum number of states it needed to try and force a formal vote.

The debate, and ensuing chaos, quickly became the biggest political story on Monday, lighting up social media and making for some good TV. But in reality, this was a pretty tame demonstration compared to what some have been anticipating and what many TV networks and reporters may even be hoping for.

It’s still early, and almost anything could happen, but this was probably the last, quiet shudder of a “Never Trump” movement that never truly had legs behind it.