GOP presidential candidates bristle over RNC pledge requirement

Republican presidential hopefuls are bristling over their party’s mandate that candidates pledge support for the eventual nominee to qualify for the first debate.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) released criteria earlier this month with several requirements for candidates to participate in the August debate, including signing a pledge to support the Republican nominee.

Some Republicans have been reluctant to say whether they’ll support the GOP nominee, while others have explicitly criticized the rule. At least one candidate said he’s refusing to sign the pledge.

But the RNC is so far not budging, with chairwoman Ronna McDaniel saying last week, “It’s the Republican Party nomination, and the pledge is staying.”

Here’s what 2024 GOP candidates have said so far about the RNC pledge requirement:

Former President Trump

The former president has remained noncommittal about supporting the eventual GOP nominee if he were not the victor.

“It would depend. I would give you the same answer I gave in 2016 during the debates,” Trump explained to conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt in February, adding it would “depend on who the nominee was.”

During the 2016 presidential cycle, Trump initially refused to commit to backing the eventual Republican nominee before later signing the pledge. The former president then backtracked on that commitment further along in the cycle as he became one of the last few candidates still in the primary.

It’s unclear whether Trump, the front-runner in national and local polling, will even participate in the first debate, while other candidates have an incentive to raise their profiles and name recognition in front of an audience.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis 

DeSantis has been asked several times whether he would back the former president if Trump became the nominee, but he’s refused to directly answer — underscoring the tricky dance DeSantis finds himself in as he works to improve his position in the race. 

“It’s like, I want to beat Biden, OK? I will do that. I will get that done. And I think, more importantly than that, I will actually bring these policies for a landing and get it all done up there,” DeSantis said when asked during an event last week in Tampa whether he would support Trump.

“But it’s an important process, and you respect the process and you respect the people’s decisions, how this goes, but I’m very confident that those decisions are going to be positive for us,” he added.

DeSantis later said he “didn’t avoid” the question and that he was “misquoted.”

“I said, you run this process, you compete, and you respect the outcome of the process. And I’ve always said that. And so that’s what I said before,” he asserted. “That’s what I’ll do. I think I’m going to be the nominee. But no matter what happens, I’m going to work to beat Joe Biden. That’s what you have to do.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence

The former vice president has pledged to support the GOP candidate, telling CNN’s Dana Bash during a town hall earlier this month, “I’ve always supported the Republican nominee for president in the United States. And I’ll support the Republican nominee in 2024, especially if it’s me.”

Bash pressed Pence on how he could say he would support Trump if he were to be the nominee given his criticism of the former president, to which Pence replied, “Well, because I don’t think Donald Trump’s going to be the nominee.”

Pence later elaborated that he was “very confident” Republicans would be able to support the nominee while reiterating he didn’t believe Trump would win the GOP primary.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley

The former U.N. ambassador is participating in the RNC’s pledge, a spokesman for her campaign confirmed to The Hill. She also used the RNC pledge to target Trump and DeSantis over their nonaffirmative answers.

“Absolutely irresponsible that Trump, DeSantis, and others won’t commit 100% to supporting the Republican nominee. There’s no room for personal vendettas in this battle to save our country. Any Republican would be better than a President Kamala Harris,” Haley tweeted Friday.

Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy said in an interview with Fox News that he would get behind the pledge ­­­­­­­­­­— but only if the other candidates did so, too.

“What I’ll say is, if the other candidates in this race make that pledge, I will stand by and be willing to, because that’s a condition for open debate in our own party,” Ramaswamy said.

“I think that we have to as a movement say we’re gonna get in there, have open debate on that debate stage with a common commitment. That’s what the RNC is trying to lead the way on. I’m ready to play ball, but I require the other candidates to play ball as well,” he elaborated later.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie 

Christie has criticized the RNC’s debate requirement, telling CNN in an interview earlier this month it’s “just a useless idea.”

“It’s only the era of Donald Trump that you need somebody to sign something on a pledge. So I think it’s a bad idea. I have expressed that to Ronna Romney McDaniel personally, directly. So this is not the first time she’s hearing it,” Christie said of the debate criteria.

Still, Christie suggested he might follow through with the requirement.

“I will do what I need to do to be up on that 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, loser in 2018 by losing the House, loser in 2020 by losing the White House and the United States Senate, and the worst midterm performance we have seen in a long, long time, led by Donald Trump-selected candidates with Donald Trump as the main issue in many of those races,” Christie said on CNN.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson 

The former Arkansas governor said this month that “I’m going to meet the criteria, whatever is set, to get on the debate stage,” but Hutchinson has notably taken issue with the pledge. 

He told Politico reporters in an interview published earlier this month that the GOP shouldn’t “want candidates pledging blind support for a nominee“ that could pose an issue for them and has asserted, “I’m not going to vote for him if he’s a convicted felon.”

A member of Hutchinson’s team in a phone call with the RNC discussed the pledge requirement amid Trump’s multiple legal controversies, but the RNC refused to consider amending their stance, Politico reported.

Former Rep. Will Hurd 

The Texas Republican has flatly said he will not sign a pledge to back the eventual Republican nominee.

“I won’t be signing any kind of pledges, and I don’t think that parties should be trying to rig who should be on a debate stage,” Hurd told CNN last week. 

“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,” he added. “And so I can’t honestly say I’m going to sign something even if he may or may not be the nominee.”

Sen. Tim Scott

The South Carolina senator suggested in an interview with Fox News’s Neil Cavuto last month that he would get behind the eventual nominee.

“All Republican candidates would be better than any Democrat candidate. As the nominee, I look forward to choosing a good vice president with those names and maybe others,” Scott said.