Lowry: ‘I Reject the Notion’ Trump Will Be the Nominee; He’s ‘Not a Conservative’

RADDATZ: "And joining us now, Rich Lowry, editor of “The National Review” and the man behind that controversial cover and the orchestrated effort to take down the billionaire; and Republican Alex Castellanos, chair of Purple Strategies and a campaign strategist to Bob Dole, George Bush and Mitt Romney, who’s thought about trying to block Trump, but then had a change of heart. Good morning to you both."
LOWRY: "Hi, Martha."
RADDATZ: "Rich, let me start with you. Is Ted Cruz correct there? You saw that interview with George. Has Donald Trump become the establishment candidate?"
LOWRY: "Yes, the reason, Martha, we did this issue, we wanted to make two points. One, Donald Trump is not a conservative. He’s shown no interest, really, in a limited government, liberty, “The Constitution,” these animating causes of conservatism.

"And two, we wanted to make the point that it’s not the so-called establishment, necessarily, that’s opposing Trump. In fact, as we speak, you have elements of the political establishment among Republicans hiding under their desk, figuring out how they can possibly co-opt or deal with Donald Trump.

"We wanted to make the point that it’s principled conservatives who oppose Trump. We want to win this election. We want to do it with a conservative. And we think we can."
RADDATZ: "And Rich, you wrote in Politico this morning that this is what “National Review” exists to do, to plant the flag for conservatism without fear of favor (ph). But have you missed your chance? Has Trump led for too long? Is he going to be the nominee?"
LOWRY: "No, I reject the notion just because he’s at 30 percent in the polls before anyone has actually voted in a caucus or a primary, this thing is effectively over. And look, we knew we’d get a lot of blowback from this issue. We knew Donald Trump would call us a loser. But I think it’s particularly rich that Donald Trump invoked William F. Buckley and said Buckley and said Buckley -- [COUGHING] — excuse me — would be ashamed of what we have done when actually, Bill Buckley wrote about Donald Trump in 2000. He called him a narcissist and a demagogue and nothing has changed in the last 15 years."