Republican candidates for president have danced around whether or not they’d support former President Donald Trump in 2024 if he wins the GOP nomination — but with the first primary debate under two weeks away, their hands are being forced. To qualify for the Aug. 23 debate, candidates will have to have to meet polling and fundraising thresholds, but they’ll also have to sign a loyalty pledge declaring that they’d support the eventual Republican presidential nominee and forgo any third-party bid of their own. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum have all already signed the pledge and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott plans to sign it, per a spokesperson for the campaign. The Associated Press has the story:
Who are the GOP 2024 candidates that sign loyalty pledge?
Newslooks- (AP)
For the Republican candidates for president, to qualify for the Aug. 23 debate, candidates will have to have to meet polling and fundraising thresholds, but they’ll also have to sign a loyalty pledge declaring that they’d support the eventual Republican presidential nominee and forgo any third-party bid of their own.
“I affirm that if I do not win the 2024 Republican nomination for President of the United States, I will honor the will of the primary voters and support the nominee in order to save our country and beat Joe Biden. I further pledge that I will not seek to run as an independent or write-in candidate nor will I seek or accept the nomination for president of any other party,” the pledge reads.
Former President Donald Trump said he would not sign the loyalty pledge while speaking with Newsmax’s Eric Bolling on Wednesday.
“I wouldn’t sign the pledge. Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have?” Trump said. “I wouldn’t have certain people as somebody that I’d endorse.”
Trump said he would announce next week whether he will be at the debate in Milwaukee, but to get on the stage, he will need to sign the loyalty pledge. Haley, DeSantis, and several other GOP candidates have qualified for the stage and said they intend to debate.
The former president remains the clear front-runner in the GOP primary field, with his closest competitor, DeSantis, nearly 40 points behind him.
Trump has hinted that he plans on skipping the first two debates altogether, but Wednesday night he said more definitively that he wouldn’t sign the loyalty pledge.
When running for president in 2015, Trump was reluctant to say he’d back whoever topped the GOP ticket in 2016, though he did ultimately sign that cycle’s loyalty pledge.
So far, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum have been the only four candidates so far to sign the loyalty pledge. Those four have also met the other criteria to make the debate stage in Milwaukee later this month.
DeSantis’s campaign announced on Wednesday that the Florida governor signed the pledge, with his campaign posting the signed pledge with the caption, “See you in Milwaukee!” DeSantis’ campaign teased on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is the latest Republican presidential candidate to sign the Republican National Committee‘s loyalty pledge ahead of the first debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Aug. 23.
Haley joined other candidates, including Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who have signed the pledge, which is a requirement to participate in the first Republican debate.
“Alright fellas, your turn,” Haley posted with the pledge, which was signed on Wednesday.
The loyalty pledge requires that candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination vow not to run for a third party if they lose the primary and to “support the nominee in order to save our country and beat Joe Biden.”
Haley’s pledge featured the “Biden” in “Beat Biden” being crossed out in favor of reading “Beat President Harris,” a nod to the former South Carolina governor’s belief that if President Joe Biden is reelected in 2024, it would set up Vice President Kamala Harris to ascend to the presidency.
An adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence said that he will meet all the debate requirements, including signing the pledge. The pledge is the last hurdle to qualify for the Aug. 23 debate, which also had donor and polling thresholds set by the Republican National Committee.
The Republican National Committee has come under fire from some longshot, anti-Trump candidates who have said the pledge would force them to back the former president despite their repeated criticisms. The pledge has drawn criticism from some Republican candidates hesitant to back front-runner former President Trump, who himself said this week that he would not sign the pledge.
“The @GOP should clarify that there is no pledge to support a nominee if they are found guilty of espionage or a serious felony,” former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson wrote on X in June. “Donald Trump is the target of an ongoing criminal investigation and he should step aside & put the good of the country above his candidacy.”
Other anti-Trump candidates have seemed to pooh-pooh the pledge, with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie noting Trump’s own aversion to support an alternative nominee in 2016. Christie, a vocal Trump critic, said previously that he would take the pledge “just as seriously as Donald Trump took it in 2016.” Trump signed a similar pledge in 2015 to support the eventual nominee, but abandoned it during a debate later that cycle. A spokesperson for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who also appeared to meet the donor and polling thresholds to qualify, did not respond for comment on whether the candidates plan to sign the pledge.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) speaks to guests at the Republican Party of Iowa 2023 Lincoln Dinner on July 28 in Des Moines, Iowa.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott plans to sign the loyalty pledge vowing to support the party’s eventual nominee, Axios has learned, which would make him the fifth candidate to do so and meet the debate qualifications.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgumhave all already signed the pledge and Scott plans to sign it, per a spokesperson for the campaign.
The RNC has not said directly if there will be repercussions if a candidate signs the pledge but doesn’t back the nominee in the end.
