Any Republican who wants to run for president in 2024 must sign a loyalty pledge if they want to participate in the 2024 debates, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. The pledge would require candidates to endorse the eventual GOP presidential nominee.
Discuss the qualification criteria for first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, McDaniel said the rules aren’t set in stone yet, but she expects the pledge will be included.
“I guess it’s kind of a no-brainer, don’t you?” McDaniel said of the pledge. “If you want to be on the Republican National Committee debate stage asking the voters to support you, you have to say ‘I will support the voters and whoever they choose as the nominee.'”
McDaniel: ‘Trump wants to be on the debate stage’
Former President Donald Trump, who is seen as one of the frontrunners in the race, declined to say whether he would support the nominee, told a conservative radio host in early February that “it would depend” on who the nominee was.
In 2015 Trump signed a similar pledge, however, without the commitment to debate participation that the promise has for this election cycle. Later in the 2016 election, he went back on the promise and also said he would only support the nominee depending on who it was.
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McDaniel brushed off Trump’s past, saying she “thinks they’re all going to sign it,” including Trump.
“I think President Trump would like to be on the debate stage. That’s what he likes to do,” McDaniel said.
Other potential 2024 GOP candidates have also expressed skepticism about pledging their loyalty to the eventual nominee. Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson told the Washington Post that the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol disqualified Trump from being “the right direction for the country” and that he would have trouble signing a pledge with Trump in mind.
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But McDaniel called for party unity, says she still expects candidates to support the eventual nominee.
“We shall meet as a party.” McDaniel said, points to the GOP’s underperformance in the 2022 midterm elections. “We saw big races lost this cycle because of Republicans who refused to support other Republicans, and unless we fix this in our party, unless we start coming together, we’re not going to win in 2024.”
Several potential GOP candidates could still enter the race
Other high-profile Republicans expected to participate in the race.
As of now, Trump and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley are the only big-name candidates officially running, but Hutchinson and other figures have begun to go around the country noting potential campaigns.
Late. Tim Scott, RS.C., who just finished a trip to Iowa, a key early state on the Republican nominating calendar, told “Fox News Sunday” that he is focused “on the mission of making sure that every single American believes that the American Dream is attainable for them,” echoing his recent speech in Iowa, where he described his early life growing up poor and a child of segregation.
Also in the Hawkeye State was Haley, who hosted town hall-style events where she told GOP voters who might be considering Trump to “look forward.”
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“It’s time for a new direction,” Haley said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” following her trip to Iowa. “I think we have to leave the status quo of the past.”
And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has yet to formally announce a presidential campaign, visited New York, Philadelphia and Chicago on Monday on a tour aimed at framing himself as the law-and-order GOP candidate.
Asked if she was concerned that the GOP field might be too crowded and disrupt party unity, McDaniel instead praised the competition.
“I think that speaks to the deep bench we have.” McDaniel said. “I mean, we have so many good governors, senators, congressmen, business leaders, a former president. We have such a great pool of candidates.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: GOP 2024 Candidates Must Sign Pledge of Allegiance to Debate: RNC Chair
