Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Friday criticized former president Donald Trump over his refusal to sign the RNC debate pledge to support the party’s eventual nominee for president.
“I mean you can’t, on the one hand, say that the country’s going in such a bad direction, which we all believe, and then, on the other hand, say you’re just going to take your ball and go home,” DeSantis said, noting that he had already signed the pledge himself.
“So, you know, I’m happy to do that. I’ve voted Republican my whole life,” DeSantis told reporters while on the campaign trail in Iowa. “And even though I’m confident we’ll be the nominee, at the end of the day, you respect the judgment of how this works out, and you don’t take your ball and go home.
“It’s not just about you. It’s about a larger mission that we have to accomplish for Americans,” he added.
Trump first expressed reservations about signing the pledge in an interview with Newsmax on Wednesday.
“I wouldn’t sign the pledge,” Trump told Eric Bolling. “Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have?
“I wouldn’t have certain people as somebody that I endorse. So they want you to sign a pledge,” he said of the candidate field. “I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president. So . . . there’s a problem right there.”
He also raised concerns that the debate requirements set too low a bar for candidates.
“You look at the debate, and they want you to debate, but you’re debating — it’s not really fair — somebody like Asa Hutchinson, who’s polling at zero percent, will ask me nasty questions,” Trump said. “Somebody like Chris Christie is falling at 1 percent, and he’s going to ask me nasty questions and others, too.”
Trump has said he plans to announce next week whether he will participate in the first Republican primary debate on August 23. “I haven’t totally ruled it out,” he said.
However, despite Trump’s railing against the RNC’s pledge, he signed a pledge to accept the eventual 2024 nominee when filing to become a presidential candidate in South Carolina.
Trump’s campaign announced last week that he officially filed to become a candidate in the Palmetto State.
“President Trump officially files to become a candidate in South Carolina after he delivered a rousing speech at the SCGOP Silver Elephant Dinner,” his team tweeted. “President Trump will once again dominate the First in the South Primary on February 24!”
In order to register, Trump had to sign the South Carolina Republican filing form, which includes a loyalty pledge that reads: “I hereby affirm that I generally believe in and intend to support the nominees and platform of the Republican Party in the November 5, 2024 General Election; that I will not knowingly violate any election law or any law defining and prohibiting corrupt and fraudulent practices in campaigns and elections in this state. . . .”