Candidates seeking the 2024 GOP presidential nomination will be prompted by the Republican National Committee to sign a loyalty pledge backing the party’s eventual nominee as the final step to qualify in this summer’s first debate, according to news reports.
Republican contenders will now be required to meet polling and donor thresholds before being presented with the pledge, which they must sign to qualify for the debate hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee on Aug. 23.
The change would effectively prevent candidates from using the pledge as an excuse for not participating in the debate and shows that the RNC is determined to pressure contenders into backing the Republican who will challenge President Joe Biden next year. It was first reported by ABC News.
Earlier this month, the RNC announced the minimum requirements for debate participants. Candidates should have at least 1% support in three polls, have at least 40,000 unique donors “with at least 200 unique donors per state,” and sign the pledge, the party said.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel last week defended the controversial requirement, telling Fox News’ Kayleigh McEnany that the “pledge is staying.”
“Anybody who wants to seek the nomination of our party should pledge to support the voters,” McDaniel said. “If you go through this process and take time on the debate stage and you’re going to be there, the number one pledge should be beat Biden. It’s called the ‘Beat Biden Pledge’ for a reason.”
“And if we can’t commit that we’re going to support who the voters choose as the nominee then you don’t deserve to be on the Republican primary party debate stage,” she continued.
Trump critics, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, ex-Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, have objected to the pledge.
Christie, who has called it a bad idea, said last week that he would still do what’s necessary “to be up on the stage to try to save my party and save my country from going down the road of being led by three-time loser Donald Trump.” He added in a CNN interview that he would “take the pledge in 2024 just as seriously as Donald Trump took it in 2016.”
Trump, during a 2015 debate, floated the possibility of a third-party run. He eventually signed a pledge to back the party’s pick in 2016, but later said he was abandoning it.
The former president, who remains the GOP front-runner despite two criminal indictments, hasn’t committed to signing the 2024 pledge or to debating other candidates.
NBC News, citing unnamed sources, on Wednesday reported Trump “is exploring options for counterprogramming during the first debate.”
Earlier this week, Trump complained on Truth Social that Fox News didn’t cover his events and “then wants me to show up and get them ratings for their ‘Presidential’ Debate, where I’m leading the field by 40 points.”
“All they do is promote, against all hope, Ron DeSanctimonious, and he’s dropping like a rock. Sorry FoxNews, life doesn’t work that way!!!” he added.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is second after Trump in most polls, also has dodged questions about signing the pledge.
Hutchinson earlier this month called on the RNC to amend the pledge after Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury over his handling of top secret documents. The RNC rejected his request.
Hutchinson will meet the RNC’s requirements to qualify for the debate, his campaign manager told ABC News.
In an interview with CNN last week, Hurd ruled out signing the pledge.
“I don’t think that parties should be trying to rig who should be on a debate stage,” Hurd said, adding that he doesn’t expect Trump to sign it either.
“I am not in the business of lying to the American people in order to get a microphone. And I’m not going to support Donald Trump. And so I can’t honestly say I’m going to sign something even he may or may not be the nominee,” he said.
The debate will be moderated by Fox News’ Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
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