Evan McMullin for President! (Wait, who?)

A new “candidate” has arisen to challenge Donald Trump. Politico says, “Evan McMullin, the former chief policy director for Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, will offer discontented members of his party an option this November by launching an independent, conservative bid for president.” Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’ve heard that before. Remember when Bill Kristol, of the Weekly Standard, tried to get Mitt Romney—or anybody—to run, and then settled for the guy down the hall (David French)?

No, seriously! Twitter said so!

“In a year where Americans have lost faith in the candidates of both major parties, it’s time for a generation of new leadership to step up,” McMullin said in a statement to ABC News. “It’s never too late to do the right thing, and America deserves much better than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton can offer us. I humbly offer myself as a leader who can give millions of disaffected Americans a conservative choice for President.”

Citing “multiple sources” in a series of posts to Twitter, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was the first to announce McMullin’s bid. He said McMullin will kick off his campaign Monday and has “the backing of key $$ contributors in the Republican Party.”

BuzzFeed also reported McMullin’s independent bid for the White House, similarly citing unnamed sources. And before noon, a web site launched soliciting donations for “Evan McMullin for President.”

McMullin, who has never held elected office, was an operations officer for the CIA for 11 years from 1999 to 2010, according to his LinkedIn page. He earned an MBA in 2011 from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the alma mater of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. He has also worked at Goldman Sachs, as a volunteer refugee resettlement officer for the United Nations and as a deckhand on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska.

Nobody seems sure what McMullin is doing now.

McMullin, who has never held elected office, was an operations officer for the CIA for 11 years from 1999 to 2010, according to his LinkedIn page. He earned an MBA in 2011 from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the alma mater of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. He has also worked at Goldman Sachs, as a volunteer refugee resettlement officer for the United Nations and as a deckhand on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska.

ABC News adds more:

The operatives working on McMullin’s bid resigned from Better for America in order to work on his candidacy. The operatives from the group, a 501(c)(4) organization that cannot officially endorse or back McMullin’s bid, has been working for months on trying to select a candidate and get on ballots throughout the country. In some states, like Texas, they will likely have to sue to get on the ballot. A 501(c)(4) is an issue-based nonprofit that can raise unlimited funds and does not have to disclose its donors.

Somehow, the BBC always has a good handle on what’s going on here.

The group Better for America had been reportedly searching for an independent presidential candidate to put up against Mr Trump. . .

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough first announced the independent bid on Twitter, adding that the candidate would have support from major Republican party donors.

The Utah native graduated from Brigham Young University and has a master’s of business administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, according to his LinkedIn page.

He also served as a Mormon missionary in Brazil.

Mr McMullin left the CIA in 2010 after 11 years before working for Goldman Sachs.

He became a senior adviser on national security for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in 2013 and subsequently the chief policy director of the House Republican Conference.

Fox News doesn’t give him much hope.

Though Evan McMullin would be a longshot and immediately faces a challenge simply getting on the ballot, his candidacy highlights frustrations lingering within the Republican Party over nominee Donald Trump. McMullin’s strategy likely will be to target Republicans in red states still on the fence about a Trump presidency. . .

Realistically, getting McMullin’s name on the ballots in all 50 states will be a steep if not impossible climb. Adding to that, McMullin has little name recognition. He hasn’t been shopped around to the television networks and is rarely quoted in publications.

Although BuzzFeed is a little more optimistic for him.

Key players in the GOP’s anti-Trump movement are preparing to launch an independent presidential campaign for Evan McMullin — a CIA veteran and the chief policy director of the House Republican conference — sources close to the effort told BuzzFeed News.

Veteran Republican strategist Rick Wilson, a Florida-based media consultant and outspoken Trump critic, is expected to be involved in McMullin’s campaign. Sources said Wilson was in Washington on Sunday meeting with members of McMullin’s prospective campaign — which includes some who were involved in a group called Better for America, which has been pushing an independent presidential bid. . .

Sources said McMullin was planning to file his paperwork Monday around noon. Apart from his low profile, his candidacy will face other substantial hurdles in gaining traction — especially with ballot access and fundraising. But people close to the effort suggested McMullin would have the backing of serious Republican donors and fundraisers. They also pointed to his ties to Utah, a state where polls show Trump badly underperforming with the Mormon-heavy electorate. McMullin, a Mormon and an alum of Brigham Young University, plans to aggressively contest the state.

Heavy.com offers five “fast facts” about McMullin.

1. Despite His Long Public Service Record, He’s Never Held Elective Office

2. He Called Donald Trump an ‘Authoritarian’ During Trump’s RNC Speech

3. His Highest-Profile Speech Is a TEDx Talk on Genocide in April

4. He Was a Volunteer Refugee Resettlement Officer in Jordan for the UN

5. McMullin Thinks America Needs to Show Strength Around the World & Criticized Obama for Leaving Iraq

And Independent Journal makes it six.

1) Evan McMullin, who is 40 years old, had a minimal public profile before announcing

2) Evan McMullin has a Bachelor of Arts degree and an MBA

3) Evan McMullin was in the CIA

4) Evan McMullin worked for Goldman Sachs

5) Evan McMullin worked as a staffer for the US Congress

6) Evan McMullin defended the family of fallen Capt. Humayan Khan against Trump

Here’s another thing to know: With all the talk about McMullin all of a sudden, we have heard nothing—at all—from The Weekly Standard, or it’s editor, William Kristol—the chief NeverTrumpian in the country. Is he upset that McMullin was “NIH” (“not invented here”)? Or maybe he’s upset that he was the last to know?

Don’t panic Trump fans.

Polls have shown that most Republicans have fallen in line with the GOP nominee. And as I noted elsewhere, a significant portion of Hillary Clinton’s “support” is really “NeverTrump” people. So if McMullin does draw votes, it will, more than likely, be from Hillary.