Bill Kristol’s Pick For A Third-Party, Anti-Trump Candidate Says He Won’t Run

Gen. James Mattis, the head of U.S. Central Command, takes questions after delivering a lecture to the London think tank Policy Exchange in London, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. The United States has no plans to redeploy t... Gen. James Mattis, the head of U.S. Central Command, takes questions after delivering a lecture to the London think tank Policy Exchange in London, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. The United States has no plans to redeploy troops or ships in response to the unrest roiling Egypt and the instability in Tunisia and Jordan, the head of the U.S. Central Command said Tuesday. Mattis was making his first public speech in Europe since taking his post overseeing the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, and other missions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) MORE LESS

April 29, 2016 12:50 p.m.

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In a major letdown for the #NeverTrump crowd pining for retired general James Mattis to launch a third-party presidential effort to derail Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, Mattis ruled out entering the race on Friday.

Two Mattis allies emailed close associates about the retired Marine Corps general’s decision, the New York Times reported.

“The thoughtfulness and patriotism—and for that matter, the modesty—Jim showed as he reflected on this decision make me more convinced than ever that he would have made a truly admirable president, and also a good candidate,” Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol wrote. “But it’s not to be. So we won’t have a President Mattis.”

While Mattis never publicly voiced any intention of entering the 2016 race, anti-Trump conservatives latched onto the well-regarded general as a possible candidate to mount an independent challenge to Trump, the GOP’s presumptive nominee.

Kristol has been one of Mattis’ biggest hype men, tweeting his support for a potential independent run:

Just spitballing here. Lots of varieties of indie tickets: Centrist: Mattis-Rhee. Young: Sasse-Kinzinger. Conservative: Gen. Kelly-Cotton.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) April 23, 2016

Clever piece in NYP, w/ strikingly weak arguments vs Mattis run, thus keeping Rupert happy while signaling opposite. https://t.co/n9PjbUgqlG

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) April 26, 2016

“If Mattis decides to run, both major-party candidates, we suspect, will look small and unserious.”@JRubinBlogger https://t.co/d18YFzpQfz

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) April 25, 2016

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Katherine Krueger

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