The Slatest

Columnist George Will Leaves GOP Over Trump’s “Mexican” Judge Comment

Conservative newspaper columnist George Will poses on the red carpet upon arrival at a salute to Fox News Channel’s Brit Hume on Jan. 8, 2009, in Washington, D.C.

Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

Conservative columnist and commentator George Will has changed his party affiliation and is urging Republicans to do everything they can to make sure Donald Trump does not move in to the White House. “This is not my party,” Will said during a speech to the Federalist Society on Friday. On Fox News Sunday, Will expanded on his reasoning behind switching his voter registration to “unaffiliated” 23 days ago. “After Trump went after the ‘Mexican’ judge from northern Indiana then (House Speaker) Paul Ryan endorsed him, I decided that in fact this was not my party anymore,” Will said.

The conservative columnist and commentator drew parallels between his leaving the GOP and Ronald Reagan. “The long and short of it is, as Ronald Reagan said when he changed his registration, ‘I did not leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.’ ”

Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to comment on the issue, calling Will “one of the most overrated political pundits.”

Will fired back, saying that Trump “has an advantage on me because he can say everything he knows about any subject in 140 characters and I can’t.”

In an interview with conservative news website PJ Media, Will said “it’s a little late” for another candidate. So what should conservatives do? “Make sure he loses. Grit their teeth for four years and win the White House.”