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"Just a heads up over this holiday weekend," Kristol said on Twitter. "There will be an independent candidate--an impressive one, with a strong team and a real chance."
The presumptive Republican nominee wasted no time firing back at Kristol:
Bill Kristol has been wrong for 2yrs-an embarrassed loser, but if the GOP can't control their own, then they are not a party. Be tough, R's!
The Republican Party has to be smart & strong if it wants to win in November. Can't allow lightweights to set up a spoiler Indie candidate!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2016
If dummy Bill Kristol actually does get a spoiler to run as an Independent, say good bye to the Supreme Court!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2016Trump locked up the Republican nomination earlier this month, but questions linger about his ability to unify the party.
Kristol, editor of the conservative opinion magazine The Weekly Standard, has openly speculated for weeks about enlisting an independent candidate to take on Trump in the general election.
Possible names that have been floated include 2012 Republican candidate Mitt Romney, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse and even billionaire businessman Mark Cuban.
Kristol was one of 22 prominent conservative thinkers who signed an anti-Trump manifesto in January, when Trump was narrowly leading a wide-open Republican primary with 12 candidates.