The head of the Republican National Committee said Sunday she expects all GOP candidates will have to sign a pledge to back the party’s eventual 2024 nominee, creating a potential showdown with ex-President Trump.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told CNN’s “State of the Union” that it’s likely Republican hopefuls will have to promise to throw their backing behind the party’s candidate if they want to get on the debate stage during the primary, calling the move a “no-brainer” to present a united front to try to unseat President Biden.
“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,’ ” McDaniel told host Dana Bash.
McDaniel said that as the head of the RNC, she is expected to support the Republican presidential nominee — and so should the candidates, including Trump, who announced he was running in November.
“Anybody 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,’ ” she said.
But Bash played a tape of Trump’s interview Feb. 2 on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show in which he was asked whether he would back whoever wins the GOP nomination.
“It would depend. I would give you the same answer I gave in 2016 during the debates. … It would have to depend on who the nominee was,” the former president said.
McDaniel said she still believes that all of the Republican candidates will sign on to the pledge — without exception.
”I think the voters are very intent on winning, and they do not want to see a debate stage of people saying, ‘I’m not going to support this guy,’ ” the RNC chief said. ” What [candidates] need to say is, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to defeat Joe Biden. And thatmeans supporting the nominee of the Republican Party.’ ”
She said she doesn’t foresee Trump backing out of a debate because he refuses to take the pledge.
“I think President Trump would like to be on the debate stage. That’s what he likes to do. And I expect that he’ll be there,” McDaniel said.