The circle of grift completes itself.

Never Trump leader Evan McMullin, once lauded as a principled alternative to Donald Trump during the 2016 election, has announced he is going to challenge Sen. Mike Lee of Utah in the 2022 election. You know, because principled conservatives typically try to defeat…principled conservatives.

Here’s the announcement before we get into reactions.

I'm Evan McMullin, I'm running for US Senate as an independent candidate here in Utah to defeat Mike Lee. Please watch my video, RT, and follow this account for updates on our campaign. pic.twitter.com/NBixnY9WkI

— Evan McMullin 🇺🇸 (@EvanMcMullin) October 5, 2021

McMullin has always been a joke, but Trump has an odd way of bringing out the worst in people, and he certainly did that with many on the right. Without even a hint of research or actual curiosity about what McMullin truly stood for, masses of right-wing personalities lined up behind his candidacy. Anything to spite the orange man.

But since then, McMullin has shown himself to be an even bigger joke than originally supposed. He was a rabid pusher of the Russian collusion hoax, including the discredited Steele dossier. He’s was also a tireless defender of the deep state, including excusing corruption at the FBI, CIA, and DOJ. In short, he fit the anti-Trump mold perfectly, not because of any policy positions he held, but because he was always willing to put himself on the opposite side of whatever issue came up, facts need not apply.

Even as his star faded, McMullin couldn’t just go away, though. He’s hung around, attempting to make a name for himself even as most of his right-wing supporters have disowned him. Yet, the calls to appear on cable news have come less and less over the last few years. So what’s a grifter to do when one grift dries up? Get a new grift.

And that’s exactly what McMullin is doing here. If he were truly a conservative, he wouldn’t even think about challenging someone like Lee, who has spent his career voting as a constitutionalist. But what McMullin knows is that he’ll pick up lots of out-of-state cash for his bid from high-dollar Democrat donors looking to sneak in a victory by proxy. That’s the game being played. McMullin knows he’s going to lose, but he also knows he’ll get money and notoriety along the way. After all, the left loves a loser in red states. Look at Beto O’Rourke.

What we are witnessing is the last gasp of Never Trump. These people have become so irrelevant that they are only left with attention-seeking scams like this. I will enjoy watching Lee trounce this guy.