In his continued effort to mend fences and restore Republican Party unity ahead of the party’s national convention in mid-July, presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump has turned his attention to the #NeverTrump movement.
According to two conservative talk radio hosts who openly identify as part of #NeverTrump, the New York City businessman has turned to a “charm offensive.” But there’s reason to doubt the efforts are working to sway the Christian, socially conservative and establishment Republicans who make up the not-so-loyal opposition.
Charlie Sykes, who is among the most vocal of Trump’s detractors in conservative talk radio, posted Friday morning he had received a handwritten note from the presidential candidate:
Charm offensive? Just got a handwritten note from @realDonaldTrump. Seriously. Apparently reaching out to #NeverTrump
In response, another prominent member of the conservative alternative media, Erick Erickson—who also happens to be a very vocal member of the #NeverTrump crowd—posted about his own experience with the Trump “charm” machine:
Every note I’ve ever gotten from him was in thick sharpie, scanned as a PDF and emailed by his secretary
Sykes’ sister, Diane, a federal appeals judge also in Wisconsin, was on Trump’s Supreme Court “short list” made public earlier this week. A few minutes after his first tweet, in response to a number of comments about the note, Charlie Sykes tweeted:
Safe to say that @realDonaldTrump note is … unusual … but I appreciate the outreach. But still #NeverTrump
