This is gonna shock you, but grifting Never Trumpers are going to continue being grifting Never Trumpers even after the 45th president has left office.

For the latest example of that, here’s a report on a new anti-Trump political party forming. The list of those participating likely won’t surprise you.

Exclusive: Dozens of former Republican officials in talks to form anti-Trump third party

Great scoop from ⁦@ByTimReid⁩ https://t.co/XH1a5cOonQ

— Ernest Scheyder (@ErnestScheyder) February 11, 2021

The early stage discussions include former elected Republicans, former officials in the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Trump, ex-Republican ambassadors and Republican strategists, the people involved say.

More than 120 of them held a Zoom call last Friday to discuss the breakaway group, which would run on a platform of “principled conservatism,” including adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law – ideas those involved say have been trashed by Trump.

The plan would be to run candidates in some races but also to endorse center-right candidates in others, be they Republicans, independents or Democrats, the people say.

Evan McMullin, who was chief policy director for the House Republican Conference and ran as an independent in the 2016 presidential election, told Reuters that he co-hosted the Zoom call with former officials concerned about Trump’s grip on Republicans and the nativist turn the party has taken.

Is it really a great scoop that con artists are going to try to con more people out of their money because they can’t get over their obsession with Donald Trump? Such happening was as assured as the sun coming up this morning. As I noted on yesterday in response to another David French rant, there is a part of the “right” who can’t let Trump go in the sense of making him the center of everything, and it’s not most of his voters.

There is indeed a segment on the right that won’t let Trump go, and it’s not most of the people who voted for him. I’ve written much more about Ron DeSantis the last few weeks than Trump. Meanwhile, we just got our 674th anti-Trump essay from The Dispatch crew. Ask yourself why.

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) February 11, 2021

Why, indeed?

Evan McMullin is apparently one of the ringleaders here, co-hosting the Zoom call and getting the group together to discuss a new party. You’ll probably remember him as the former CIA hack that ran 3rd party in 2016 against Trump. Many “Republicans” in conservative media voted for him, though most disavow their support at this point because McMullin has proven to be an even bigger joke than he first appeared. He’s also woke, and that doesn’t typically mesh well with conservatism.

Here’s what I’ve noticed since Trump’s departure. Most Trump supporters, including myself, have the ability to both still like Trump while also having a vision for the future. Meanwhile, the anti-Trump right has nothing if Trump is no longer the center of the universe. He is their ticket to money, cable news spots, and lots of virtue signaling on Twitter. By starting a party dedicated to opposing him and his movement, they are actually desperately trying to keep him at the forefront so they can continue to enrich themselves. It’s a deeply cynical game. There are no principles at work here. It’s just another grift, and it should be rejected as such.

Regardless, I fully expect this to crash and burn anyway. There is no market for Never Trumpism outside of the beltway. There’s a reason all the Never Trump websites have to have outside investors pump capital into them. It’s because they can’t stay afloat by actually making money because no one cares about their viewpoints.