• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Leadership

Inside the Republican Plan to Stop Trump

By
Zeke J Miller
Zeke J Miller
and
TIME
TIME
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Zeke J Miller
Zeke J Miller
and
TIME
TIME
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 2, 2016, 7:51 PM ET
Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Holds Super Tuesday Event
Photograph by Luke Sharrett—Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

For months, Republican donors and candidates had been squeamish about taking on Donald Trump, convinced he’d fade out or simply afraid of the blowback from the bombastic billionaire. Now with Trump on the cusp of securing the nomination, the GOP is gearing up to bankroll a desperate effort to stop him.

The loosely-coordinated anti-Trump efforts are attempting to get off the ground, uncover potentially damning research, and deploy it on television and online all before March 15, the date on which Trump stands to make a break-out in winner-take-all contests if his momentum isn’t stalled. It’s a tall order, with campaign operatives seeking to condense months of planning and strategy into days.

“They’re building the plane while trying flying it,” said one supportive, but skeptical GOP operative.

While candidates and outside groups have tried to attack Trump before, the new efforts will be defined by their attacks not on Trump’s hodgepodge policies—which voters have been willing to overlook—rather his personal and professional failings.

“What has happened in the past in the general GOP critique of Trump is a lot of it was rehashing similar arguments that have been out there,” Tim Miller, the spokesman for Our Principles PAC told TIME. “We have to play his game. We’re looking for what’s salacious.”

Miller said his group’s attacks on Trump will seek to undermine the three legs propping up Trump’s campaign: the notions that he speaks the truth, that he’s a successful businessman, and that he can beat Hillary Clinton.

“Hillary could be in a jail cell and she’d beat Donald Trump in a landslide,” Miller said. “The takeaway from [Super Tuesday] is that in many states over half of the electorate said they’d be unhappy with Donald trump as the nominee.”

Our Principles PAC has already made a seven-figure television ad buy in Illinois, Michigan, and Florida with an ad criticizing Trump University, the defunct education program currently embroiled in a fraud suit. Meanwhile Club for Growth Action, is deploying $1.5 million to attack Trump in Florida on his business bankruptcies and use of eminent domain. The new spending is on top of a campaign by the conservative group American Future Fund that is running ads featuring former customers of Trump University.

The attacks come as Trump’s rivals are taking Peppering his stump speech with broadsides at the front-runner Sunday evening in Roanoke, Va., Marco Rubio called Trump a hypocrite, accused him of weakness, and even questioned his manhood. “You know what they say about men with small hands,” Rubio said, complete with a pregnant pause. “You can’t trust ‘em.”

“Any attacks have to be led by the candidates,” Former Mitt Romney strategist Stuart Stevens said. “You can’t outsource your courage. These other attacks can reinforce your points or even open up new ones, but they have to be led by the candidates.”

Many Republican operatives are livid at the media—particularly cable news—who they argue have become beholden to Trump for record political ratings. “It’s time for the media to do their job and seriously vet Donald Trump,” said Katie Packer, the former Romney aide who founded Our Principles PAC .

But the Trump show has become a force unto itself, drawing the equivalent of millions of dollars in free airtime every time he speaks to the press. That’s why the GOP effort is now trying to play off Trump’s playbook of name-calling and insults, in hopes claiming a piece of the earned media pie.

Stevens brushed off the notion that the attacks have only strengthened Trump, saying no candidate until Rubio last week has seriously tried to weaken him. (Jeb Bush’s criticism of the front-runner was designed to show toughness and boost his own poll numbers, rather than peel off Trump supporters.)

“Trump has been in a race where he’s been fighting in a race where none of the other candidate were fighting him, so of course he was doing well,” Stevens said. Now he says the candidates have to start fighting Trump, and “never stop fighting.”

“It’s going to take a sustained paid media campaign,” said Packer. “It’s going to take the candidates taking him on, which I do think is happening now finally.” But it remains to be seen whether it was too late.

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

About the Authors
By Zeke J Miller
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By TIME
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Leadership

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Leadership

How foodservice giant Sodexo is embracing AI and robotics to reshape the kitchen
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
How foodservice giant Sodexo is embracing AI and robotics to reshape the kitchen
By John KellJuly 1, 2026
4 hours ago
U.S. Polo Assn. CEO J. Michael Prince
SuccessThe Promotion Playbook
U.S. Polo Assn. CEO was told he wasn’t right for a promotion—so he ‘outworked’ anyone else who wanted the job for 6 months straight
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 1, 2026
5 hours ago
Nikesh Arora, chief executive officer at Palo Alto Networks
SuccessJobs
CEO of $248 billion cybersecurity company says workers are about to face a ‘Darwinian moment’ thanks to AI: Evolve or get cut
By Emma BurleighJuly 1, 2026
6 hours ago
DHL plane being refuelled at airport by man in high-vis jacket
EuropeAviation
The Iran conflict saw jet fuel prices soar—when you use 1.88 million tonnes a year, how you respond really matters (just ask DHL)
By Sam ForsdickJuly 1, 2026
7 hours ago
I know how Gen Z can survive the ‘jobpocalypse’ because I built an AI company — in 2015
CommentaryCareers
I know how Gen Z can survive the ‘jobpocalypse’ because I built an AI company — in 2015
By Jeremy FainJuly 1, 2026
10 hours ago
mr
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
America needs 3.8 million manufacturing workers. This CEO has a blueprint to find them
By Mark RayfieldJuly 1, 2026
10 hours ago

Most Popular

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
7 days ago
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
13 hours ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
4 days ago
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
2 days ago
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
Newsletters
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
By Diane BradyJuly 1, 2026
11 hours ago
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
Commentary
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
By Marc AndersenJune 30, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.