Ken Cuccinelli, Considered For Border Job, Was ‘King of the Never Trumpers’

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Apr 8, 2019
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli gestures during a press conference after a hearing before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on a challenge to the federal health care reform act in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, May 10, 2011. The three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals includes Obama appointees, Andre Davis and James Wynn, and Diana Motz, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton. The panel has heard arguments in two Virginia lawsuits challenging Obama’s health care overhaul. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Ken Cuccinelli is competing against Kris Kobach, either for the Department of Homeland Security chief position or an invented “border czar” role.

But Cuccinelli’s NeverTrumper record makes it clear to border hardliners that he is NOT the man for the job. Cuccinelli has no real base of support, especially from those in the Border Patrol community.

Kris Kobach is the leading choice of Border Patrol agents and the pro-Wall Right.

I reported from the Republican convention in Cleveland:

Former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli has emerged as a political casualty of his failed effort to rebel against Donald Trump on the convention floor in Cleveland in 2016…

Cuccinelli…spoke at the convention’s Rules Committee hearing late last week in favor of a “conscience” voting provision that would have un-bound Trump’s pledged delegates on the first ballot. Cuccinelli was also involved in pushing Monday to stop the Rules Committee’s package from being adopted on the convention floor.

But that last-minute rebellion was squashed easily with two voice votes by all the delegates in Cleveland. The #NeverTrump movement has no remaining recourse to change the rules at this point to rob Trump of the nomination.

Breitbart News has extensively reported on various #NeverTrump plots to broker the convention — some of which were directly engineered at state-level delegate elections by the Cruz campaign — but all efforts ultimately failed, and the will of the primary voters will be recognized in Cleveland.

Ted Cruz’s best friend, Utah Sen. Mike Lee, spoke at the Rules Committee hearing last Thursday but does not appear to have participated in the last-minute push to throw out the rules on Monday.

The last-ditch rebels include “Free the Delegates” leader Kendal Unruh of Colorado and Steve Lonegan of New Jersey.

Cuccinelli was first elected to the Virginia state senate in 2002 and was elected Attorney General in 2009. He lost to Clinton ally Terry McAuliffe in the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial race by more than two percentage points.

Cuccinelli, 47, is survived by #NeverTrump power broker Bill Kristol.

Cuccinelli did not answer repeated requests for comment for this political obituary.

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