Story highlights CPAC provided a meeting space for a a small but vocal minority of Republicans who proclaim they won't support their presidential nominee if his name is Donald J. Trump

The uprising, which uses the slogan #NeverTrump on social media to spread its message, considers Trump to be a threat to conservatism and the Republican Party

Oxon Hill, Maryland (CNN) The rift within the Republican Party was on dramatic display here this week as thousands of conservative activists, gathered together for an annual conference, struggled to make sense of Donald Trump's hold on the GOP.

The Conservative Political Action Conference, traditionally intended as a forum to rally the American right, provided a meeting space for a small but vocal minority of attendees who proclaim they won't support their presidential nominee if his name is Donald J. Trump.

The uprising, which uses the slogan #NeverTrump on social media to spread its message, considers Trump to be a threat to conservatism and the Republican Party. Their ranks include students, lifelong conservative activists, professional Republican political consultants and bloggers, many of whom say they will stay home on Election Day and even some who claim they will help Hillary Clinton in the fall.

"I've promised that I will phone bank for Hillary if he's the nominee," said Ben Howe, a contributing editor at Red State, a conservative website. "I think (Trump) is a vulgar, sociopathic liar and I don't want him out there saying he represents me."

The intense sentiment from some conservatives comes as other powerful voices within the Republican Party take drastic measures to stop Trump before he reaches the delegates needed to clinch the nomination. This week, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivered a speech in Utah calling on the party to rally against the real estate mogul and anti-Trump super PACs have begun negative ad blitzes across the country.

Read More