‘Useless idea’: Republican nominee loyalty pledge draws growing criticism

Washington: The Republican National Committee will require presidential candidates to pledge support to the party’s nominee, whoever that may be, if they want to take the stage at the first primary debate in August.

The requirement has drawn condemnation from Republican presidential contender Chris Christie, who called the demand a “useless idea,” adding to criticism following the indictments of GOP front-runner Donald Trump.

“It’s only [in] the era of Donald Trump that you need somebody to sign something on a pledge,” the former New Jersey governor said in on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday.

“So I think it’s a bad idea.”

Trump’s legal woes are growing after he became the first former US president to be indicted on federal charges, even as polls suggest Republican voters still favour him over other candidates.

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Christie, who backed Trump in 2016, has propelled his 2024 campaign by criticising the former president. Despite the pledge requirement, he says he plans to take the debate stage this year in an effort to prevent Trump from taking office.

Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has called on the RNC to back off the pledge for a nominee convicted of “espionage or a serious felony.”

Hutchinson’s 2024 presidential campaign team was rebuffed in a meeting with RNC officials, Politico reported.

He and voters at large wouldn’t support a candidate in a presidential election “who is under indictment, that is potentially convicted at that time,” Hutchinson said Sunday on ABC’s This Week.

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“But we’re going to make that debate stage, and Donald Trump will not be the nominee of the party and I’m sure that’s how those who participate in it will view that,” he said.

The first Republican presidential primary debate is set for August 23 in Milwaukee. Under rules announced by the national committee on June 2, participation criteria include a “signed pledge agreeing to support the eventual party nominee”.

“The RNC is committed to putting on a fair, neutral, and transparent primary process and the qualifying criteria set forth will put our party and eventual nominee in the best position to take back the White House come November 2024,” Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement at the time.

Trump’s legal woes haven’t deterred die-hard supporters in the past.

About a third of Americans say the Justice Department should not have charged Trump, according to a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll. Most Republicans viewed the indictment as politically motivated in a CBS News/ YouGov poll.

Bloomberg

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