George Will, longtime conservative columnist for the Washington Post, says he has left the Republican party because of Donald Trump and that he told the GOP to "make sure he loses."

PJ Media:

Conservative columnist George Will told PJM he has officially left the Republican Party and urged conservatives not to support presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump even if it leads to a Democratic victory in the 2016 presidential election.

Will, who writes for the Washington Post, acknowledged it is a “little too late” for the Republican Party to find a replacement for Trump but had a message for Republican voters.

“Make sure he loses. Grit their teeth for four years and win the White House,” Will said during an interview after his speech at a Federalist Society luncheon.

Will said he changed his voter registration this month from Republican to “unaffiliated” in the state of Maryland.

“This is not my party,” Will said during his speech at the event.

He mentioned House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) endorsement of Trump as one of the factors that led him to leave the party.

Will, a Fox News contributor, said a “President Trump” with “no opposition” from a Republican-led Congress would be worse than a Hillary Clinton presidency with a Republican-led Congress.

Will did not say if he would vote for the Libertarian Party nominee, former Gov. Gary Johnson (R-N.M.), telling the crowd he does not know whether or not the Libertarian ticket is going to help or hurt Clinton.

Will believes there are worse things than a Clinton presidency - specifically, a Trump presidency. He downplays the notion that a Republican president would necessarily name a conservative to the Supreme Court, pointing out that several liberal justices over the years were appointed by Republicans.

Will also believes that Trump is going to get slaughtered in the general election, which would lead to a Democratic takeover of the Senate. 

Most Republicans who call themselves conservatives today have rejected Will's old fashioned views on the issues for the most part so his defection is not going to have any discernible impact on the race. But in his day - Reagan's day - he was a leading voice for conservatism when being a conservative was difficult. 

Will's action is only the latest in a series of high profile former government officials who served in Republican administrations coming out against Trump. That their defections will be dismissed by many right wingers as establishment sour grapes misses the point. These officials have been loyal Republicans for decades but can't stomach Trump and his noxious ideas. Instead of summarily dismissing their defections, perhaps right wingers need to ask themselves what drove these loyal party men out of the party.