Shortly after Donald Trump triumphantly won the Indiana Republican primary on Tuesday night, after it became clear that he would be the party's presidential nominee, and after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) announced that he would suspend his campaign, Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, sent a tweet.

.@realDonaldTrump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton #NeverClinton — Reince Priebus (@Reince) May 4, 2016

Priebus' job is to unify the party. And in urging fellow Republicans to unite behind Trump, he was essentially declaring an end to a bitter, odd, often comically acidic primary fight.

But he's gonna need more than a tweet to stop the party from falling apart.

Before Trump took to the mics, many of the top conservative voices in the press, some of the party's top operatives, and even elected officials were reaffirming that they simply won't support the real estate tycoon. One even burned his Republican registration card.

Republican strategist Mary Matalin also said she had left the GOP and registered as a Libertarian on Thursday after Trump became the presumptive nominee. She insisted that leaving the party was a "coincidence" and said she might still vote for Trump.

Much to my deep chagrin (& astonishment ~8 months ago), for the 1st time in my life, I will not support the GOP nominee for president. — Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 3, 2016

#NeverTrump means...never. The mission of distinguishing him from Republican positions and conservative values remains critical. — Rory Cooper (@rorycooper) May 3, 2016

It's even more important now https://t.co/Ku48QuQpn3 — Tucker Martin (@jtuckermartin) May 3, 2016

Reporters writing about the "Stop Trump" effort get it wrong. It's "Never Trump" as in come hell or high water we will never vote for Trump — Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) May 3, 2016

For the thick-headed: #NeverTrump means never ever ever ever ever under any circumstances as long as I have breath never Trump. Get it? — Tony Fratto (@TonyFratto) May 3, 2016

Reporters keep asking if Indiana changes anything for me.

The answer is simple: No.



This from Febr. still holds:https://t.co/yUNSZTHW7E — Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) May 4, 2016

Donald Trump is not equipped to be president, period. That doesn't change just because Hillary Clinton also isn't equipped. — Ian Tuttle (@iptuttle) May 4, 2016

not voting for trump will be the easiest non-vote of my life. — David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) May 3, 2016

Apparently @secupp has a #NeverTrump list to see who keeps their word to the end. You can sign my name in blood. — Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) May 3, 2016

Trump not nominee until he hits 1237. Time for plan C for #NeverTrump: Offer to make Trump an actual billionaire if he drops out.Might work! — Jamie Weinstein (@Jamie_Weinstein) May 4, 2016

For the first time since turning 18, I will not vote for the Republican candidate for President. — Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) May 4, 2016

I have officially de-registered as a Republican. pic.twitter.com/DjRI21Oyvx — Philip Klein (@philipaklein) May 4, 2016

Right behind you https://t.co/K4UAHl6IMK — Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) May 4, 2016

Certainly, there is plenty of time between now and November for feelings to change, for bruised egos to heal, for Republicans to talk themselves into supporting Trump. But step back and take stock of what took place on Tuesday. A party finally determined who its presumptive nominee would be -- and a good chunk of its commentariat, many of its operatives and even some of its lawmakers collectively hurled.

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

This story has been updated to include comment from Republican strategist Mary Matalin.