- Marseille bidding to continue 'almost perfect' Ligue 1 start
- Arnold quits as coach of Australia men's football team
- Harris and Oprah hold star-studded US election rally
- Allies to remember failed WWII parachute operation
- Perez leading new-look Villarreal charge against leaders Barca
- Man City face Arsenal in Premier League title showdown, Postecoglou under pressure
- Fake celebrity endorsements, snubs plague US presidential race
- Documentary brings Argentine 'death flights' to the big screen
- Strike shows challenge to Boeing 'reset' of labor relations
- World leaders to gather at UN as crises grow and conflicts rage
- How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation
- Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park
- South Africa's Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City lead
- Japan inflation firms to 2.8% ahead of BoJ rate decision
- Russia's Kadyrov accuses Musk of 'remotely disabling' his Cybertruck
- Titan sub had to abort a dive days before fatal implosion: testimony
- Ohtani makes MLB history with first 50-homer, 50-steal season
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases, 49 homers
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
- Rate cut could lift consumer spirits before US elections
- Last-gasp Gimenez strike sends Atletico past Leipzig
- Barca stumble at Monaco after early red card
- Raya heroics save Arsenal in Champions League opener at Atalanta
- Cathay Airbus engine fire linked to cleaning: EU regulator
- Guardians beat Twins to secure MLB playoff berth
- Jihadist attack in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources
- Alonso hails 'efficient' Leverkusen after Feyenoord rout
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI
- Ex-Man United striker Anthony Martial joins AEK Athens
- NFL unbeatens meet as Texans visit Vikings, Steelers host Chargers
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI after Labuschagne strikes
- Dream debut for Wirtz as Leverkusen thump dire Feyenoord
- Myanmar flood death toll climbs to 293: state media
- Israel army says West Bank air strike kills 4 militants
- LIV golfers get green light for US Ryder Cup team, PGA Championship
- US accuses social media giants of 'vast surveillance'
- Ten Hag to bed Hojlund, Mount in carefully when they return for Man Utd
- Breaking bad as McIlroy endures 'weird' day
- EU chief announces $11 bn for nations hit by 'heartbreaking' floods
- Spanish PM, Palestinian leader urge Mideast de-escalation
- New study reinforces theory Covid emerged at Chinese market
- World Bank boosts climate financing by 10 percent
- Bagnaia eyeing summit on home ground in 100th MotoGP
- 'Something was wrong', defendant in French mass rape tells court
- Hezbollah chief admits 'unprecedented' blow in device blasts
- Sales of US existing homes slip slightly in August
- Fear, panic haunt Lebanese after devices explode
A Trump challenge: uniting bitter Republicans
US Republicans have taken to social media in droves to burn their voter registration cards, renounce their political affiliation, and pledge never to vote for their party's presumptive nominee Donald Trump in November.
Trump is basking in the glory of an all-but-certain victory in the chaotic GOP nomination race, after rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich raised their white flags of surrender.
But Trump's rise presents a moment of truth for Republicans: can they rally around one of the most contentious presidential nominees in modern history?
Astounding displays of antagonism are coming from conservatives who under more normal circumstances would likely be backing the Republican standardbearer.
Startling images landed on Twitter Tuesday and Wednesday in the hours after the braggadocious billionaire's sweeping Indiana primary victory, including a shot of conservative writer Lachlan Markay and video of one Bryan Akner, both setting their voter registration cards alight.
One of the chief challenges on Trump's hands as he shifts from the nominations battle to a likely general election brawl against Democrat Hillary Clinton is how to win over Republicans infuriated by his candidacy.
Some conservative critics like former candidate and Louisiana ex-governor Bobby Jindal, who once branded Trump "dangerous" and ignorant, are biting the bullet and shuffling into line behind Trump.
Mainstream Senator Susan Collins said she would support Trump, but he will "have to mend a lot of fences" and halt what she called gratuitous insults that have marked his campaign.
The country's previous two Republican presidents, George W. Bush and his father George H.W. Bush, who undoubtedly bristled at Trump's bullying attacks on candidate Jeb Bush, have signaled through their offices that they will stay on the sidelines during this cycle.
George W. Bush "does not plan to participate in or comment on the presidential campaign," his personal aide Freddy Ford told the Texas Tribune.
Other Republicans are sounding like they intend to fight Trump every step of the way -- by voting for Clinton, if necessary.
- 'I'm with her' -
"The GOP is going to nominate for president a guy who reads the National Enquirer and thinks it's on the level," tweeted Mark Salter, a former senior advisor to 2008 Republican nominee John McCain, after Trump peddled the tabloid's conspiracy theory that linked Cruz's father to president John F. Kennedy's assassin.
"I'm with her," Salter added, repeating a Clinton campaign slogan.
Washington Examiner's managing editor, Philip Klein, tweeted that he had "officially de-registered as a Republican."
Erick Erickson, a respected conservative blogger, on Wednesday blasted Trump for supporting "white nationalists and racial grievance mongers," mistreating employees and bragging about his philandering past.
But he also took issue with the party's failure to "draw a line" against Trump's bigotry and insults.
"Why can't the GOP say this is unacceptable?" Erickson wrote on The Resurgent website, insisting he will "decline to help the voters in this country commit national suicide."
With Trump the presumptive nominee, the Republican Party was trapped in a balancing act of promoting their man while soothing the frustrations of the NeverTrump movement.
"There are some raw feelings out there," Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer acknowledged on MSNBC.
Conservative lawmakers including Senator and former presidential candidate Lindsey Graham, Senator Ben Sasse and congressman Justin Amash, as well as 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, are on a list compiled by The Hill of nearly 100 prominent Republicans who have pledged not to vote for The Donald.
Sasse said Wednesday he remained open to a third candidate, beyond Trump or Clinton, who would promote conservative values.
"I think some Republicans in the establishment will hold their nose and give tepid support to their nominee Donald Trump," senior fellow John Hudak of Washington think tank the Brookings Institution told AFP.
"But I think there's going to be a significant number of establishment Republicans who frankly will continue to run against Donald Trump," including some who "come out and endorse Clinton."
The NeverTrump movement, meanwhile, signalled it would continue to seek opportunities to oppose his nomination, and to help conservatives, particularly by "protecting Republican incumbents and down-ballot candidates, by distinguishing their values and principles from that of Trump."
Should Trump pivot from some of his divisive statements to a more presidential tone, he might draw skeptical Republicans into the voting booth to support him.
Others appear to be gone for good.
"I'll probably go with (Libertarian candidate) Gary Johnson," conservative strategist Brad Marston said.
"I don't see any room for me in today's GOP."
M.Ouellet--BTB