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Trump’s Refusal to Sign the Republican Loyalty Pledge [1]

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Date: 2023-08-16

Donald Trump has declined to sign the Republican National Committee’s loyalty pledge, with just a week to go before the party’s inaugural primary debate on Aug. 23. Considering that this is a requirement for participating in the debate, and that the party has been transformed into his party, the issue has put the RNC in a difficult position. In fact, the party seems more worried about him not attending the debates, than on whether he will sign the pledge or not. Such is the state of the Republican party.

In an interview with Newsmax , the former president said, “I wouldn’t sign the pledge. Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have?” This is, of course, a repeat of 2016, when Trump declined to sign the loyalty pledge, making it clear that the only result he sees as legitimate is the result that has him as the nominee. This won’t surprise anyone, after all, this is a man who has been indicted for attempting to overthrow the results of the Georgia election defeat.

Although Trump has lost all his favorability gains this year, even among Republicans, he remains the massive favorite to win the primaries. He is also a man who attracts enormous coverage -there are times where he gets more coverage than the president, joe Biden-. This presents the RNC Chair, Ronna McDaniel, with a dilemma: she must somehow get Trump to participate in the debates, without appearing to cede control to him. Trump is unlikely to agree to sign the pledge, and if McDaniel sticks to her guns, then Trump could decide to skip the debates, essentially turning them into a non-event. So far, McDaniel has telegraphed that she will stick to her guns, telling CNN host Dana Bash ,

“If you’re going to be on the Republican National Committee debate stage asking voters to support you, you should say, ‘I’m going to support the voters and who they choose as the nominee’. Anyone getting on the Republican national committee debate stage should be able to say, ‘I will support the will of the voters and the eventual nominee of our party”.

Source: FiveThirtyEight

Can Trump put aside his own ambitions and appetites and sign the “Beat Biden pledge”? History suggests not. The issue first arose on the debate stage in August 2015, when, having been asked if they would back whoever the nominee was, Trump was the only candidate among 17, to say no. Although Trump went on to sign the pledge the next month, in March 2016, he reversed his position and said he would not agree to back another candidate. Trump could follow the same playbook to get on the national stage, sign the pledge, do the debates, and if he thinks he’s losing, reverse his pledge. It would be so Trump to pull a fast one.

The saga demonstrates the extent to which Trump has always been in it for himself, placing his personal interests above those of the party. It also reveals how difficult it has been for the party to stand up for itself in face of a man who has demolished all its norms and traditions.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/16/2187662/-Trump-s-Refusal-to-Sign-the-Republican-Loyalty-Pledge

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