If you recall, back in April, conservative radio host Mark Levin declared that he would have nothing to do with Donald Trump in the general election.

Levin, a strong supporter of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, said that Trump’s allies had made the billionaire Republican front-runner toxic.

“As a result of what the Trump supporters have attempted here, particularly Roger Stone, I am not voting for Donald Trump. Period,” Levin said.

Stone in recent days has threatened to make public the hotel rooms of convention delegates who switch their votes away from Trump, and is organizing protests in Cleveland in support of Trump and against any attempt to “cheat” him out of the nomination.

“So I want to congratulate Roger Stone,” Levin said. “And if anybody has a problem with that Donald Trump, you can talk to Roger Stone. These bully dirty tricks Nixonian tactics, they’re only going to backfire. So count me as never Trump.”

That was then. This is now.

At the beginning of the program, Levin made sure his real feelings were known. It was no secret that Levin’s first choice was not and is not Donald Trump. In fact, he boldly declared Tuesday that despite Trump’s holding some conservative policies, “Donald Trump is not a conservative … and he’s not reliable.”

Levin reiterated his position that Sen. Ted Cruz would’ve been a far better choice to champion conservative principles as president.

But that’s not what happened and … “at the end of the day, someone is going to be president.”
…
Levin said, “I’m gonna vote for Donald Trump. I’m gonna wind up voting for Donald Trump on elector day. I take no responsibility for the dumb things he says or the dumb things his surrogates say.”

This is the audio clip

This is a difficult election year for all of us. What started off as the strongest field of conservative candidates in modern GOP history to face off against one of the most inept and corrupt individuals to ever seek the Oval Office has ended, like Dead Sea fruit, as ashes in our mouths. We have as a candidate a charlatan; a con man; a huckster; a man, in the words of C. S. Lewis, without a chest — a man totally devoid of masculine or even human virtues. Unfortunately for the republic, his opponent has the same character traits. Unlike some of my colleagues, I’m not keeping score this year and I understand how someone could reasonably decide that Trump was less evil, or a different kind of evil, than Hillary Clinton. I just don’t believe that to be true.

For GOP politicians they have to decide if the pain of being publicly associated with Trump is worth the benefit. Media people have to make the same calculation. Sean Hannity decided early that he liked Trump’s vacuous and bombastic politics and flogged his candidacy mercilessly last fall. Rush had his own come-to-Jesus moment and decided that loyalty to his Mar-e-Lago golf partner took precedence over conservatism. Mark Levin stood out in that crowd as a man who was fearlessly voicing what those of us with a much smaller voice had been declaring. Trump is a fraud and poseur.

Now he’s decided that fear of Hillary Clinton is sufficient reason for him to vote for Donald Trump. I understand his position but I think he’s wrong in tactics and he’s wrong in his weighting of the the damage a Clinton presidency will do against the destruction a Trump presidency will inevitably bring.

In Catholic theology there is a concept called “scandal.” Scandal occurs when a person in position of authority takes an action that can lead other people into sin. What Levin has done is the political equivalent of scandal. Levin’s personal vote is irrelevant but his decision to give his public support to Trump — and no matter how you color it, this is support — will allow other wavering voters to cast their vote for Trump.

After this declaration, Levin really loses the ability to disavow stupid Trumpidian statements now or to be outraged at the totality of the betrayal that Trump will inflict upon the GOP because in his essence, Trump is a betrayer. His wives, his mistresses, his partners, his employees have all been betrayed shamelessly and have heard him laugh about it on radio and television appearances. Levin has been right for months. Trump is a liberal Democrat. He’s going to adopt an immigration policy written by Chuck Schumer — to whom Trump has contributed lavishly — and, what’s more, he will pick judges that Chuck Schumer approves of. When he does so Levin is going to be left holding the bag and smoking hole in the ground where the GOP used to be and he will have no one to blame but himself.