It is absurd to suggest Rubio’s decision to back Trump in the general election reflects a lack of principles. It does not even reflect a change of heart. Rubio has always been #NeverHillary first and foremost. From literally the first question of the first debate to the last question of the eleventh debate, Rubio’s position on supporting the party’s nominee has not budged one iota. Yes, he called Trump a dangerous con man, but he also called Hillary Clinton “disqualified.”
Efforts to portray Rubio as some sort of careerist sellout are disingenuous. Rubio has not tempered his criticism of Trump and has made clear that his concerns about Trump’s character and policy proposals remain. He is not Chris Christie, who enthusiastically endorsed Trump while viable conservatives remained in the race. So there is no reason to believe his support is a self-interested ploy to get a plum appointment. In fact, he has shot down the prospect of serving under Trump on the grounds that if Trump wins, he deserves to have people serving under him who believe in his ideas.
What is the sense in claiming, as Jennifer Rubin and others have, that “Rubio has ceded a potential role in the rebuilding of the GOP post-Trump.” The idea that Rubio and all those who’ve opted for #NeverHillary rather than #NeverTrump will be banished from the party after the GOP wakes from its Trump nightmare is a fantasy. There is no list of those who capitulated to Trump that the righteous will appeal to when the time comes to rebuild. Reducing every Republican who opts for Trump over Clinton to a “Trumpkin” is counterproductive in the extreme. The vast majority of Republicans are siding with Trump over Clinton, and they are not going to rally around “Schadenfreude 2020!” #NeverTrump does not need to start a war with #NeverHillary. It is hard to see how that would be constructive in the long run.
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