Sixteen candidates and over four hundred days later, the campaign for the Republican nomination for president has all but anointed Donald Trump. Moving forward, it is presumed the billionaire real estate mogul will be the Republican nominee.

Since Ohio governor John Kasich announced the end of his presidential campaign, many Republicans have been calling for the unification of the Republican Party. In the last few days, former presidents, presidential nominees, and several elected officials in the Republican Party have rebuked Trump and claim they will not support him. Even House Speaker Paul Ryan, the highest elected official in the Republican Party, has articulated his weariness to immediately support Trump as the nominee.

First, allow me to make clear one point: I will never support Hillary Clinton and if the general election produces only these two viable candidates, I will have no other choice than to support the lesser of two evils. Hillary is a liar, she is corrupt, she is a pandering moron who will stop at nothing to win the White House and she does not deserve to hold the office. As of now, I am not discouraging anyone from voting for Trump. If he represents what you want in a president and if he has earned the presidency in your mind, then by all means support the man.

While I applaud those who are putting principles over party, I condemn any conservative Republican who plans to vote for Hillary Clinton just to send a message. This is ludicrous. While you may not think the United States can afford four to eight years of Donald Trump, we certainly cannot afford four to eight years of Hillary Clinton.

I strongly encourage my fellow conservative Republicans to vote by principle rather than party. Do not support or vote for Donald Trump only because he won the nomination. If you vote for Trump, be able to answer this question: why? Do not vote for him because he is the Republican nominee. If you vote for him, do so because he best represents you and what you want in a president.

During this backwards time in the history of our party, it is of the utmost importance to refrain from blindly following Donald Trump simply because he won. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch and this may exactly be the case in 2016. I am afraid many of the hardcore Trump supporters have forgotten some of the ideas for which the Republican Party is supposed to fight. We are supposed to fight for individual liberty and limited government, regardless of what party is in power. Not for demagoguery. We are supposed to grow the faith people have in strong leadership and responsible governance, not to divide and conquer. The game of dividing and conquering the American people is the job of President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic Party. I understand people are angry with our current president because I am angry too. I am angry about vast executive overreach, the arrogance of our president and the divisive nature of politics fostered by him. I am angry about reckless spending, irresponsible leadership, and a catastrophic foreign policy. But it does not mean we need to abandon our principles.

Standing up for your beliefs is never easy. Those who are putting principle before party are already managing attacks from fellow conservatives like Sean Hannity and Governor Mike Huckabee. These attacks are just as misguided and maliciously charged as many of Trump’s attacks.

If you are taking a stand against the man who the Ku Klux Klan designates as their "white knight," the man who incites violence and hate against those who oppose him, the man who is as blindly arrogant as he is orange, then you are not handing the presidency to Hillary Clinton, you are trying to correct what you see is a devastating mistake. You have my respect.