Thanks to a new Republican National Committee rule, Former President Donald Trump may be in some trouble going into the 2024 presidential election. The new rule states that presidential candidates who want to participate in the Republican Party primary debates must sign a loyalty pledge to support the eventual primary winner.
“After the primary, it is imperative to the health and growth of our Republican Party, as well as the country, that we all come together and unite behind our nominee to defeat Joe Biden and the Democrats,” RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel confirmed in a statement to the Associated Press.
This could pose a huge problem for Trump, who during the 2016 presidential election had famously refused to pledge to support the eventual nominee:
Luckily, he won the nomination, so it became a moot issue. But it clearly wouldn’t be so easy this time around given the new rule.
That said, while a senior Trump aide declined to say whether the former president will sign the loyalty pledge, the aide did guarantee that he’ll participate in the Republican Party primary debates one way or another.
Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung also declined to answer the question with a simple yes/no.
“President Trump is the undisputed leader of the Republican Party and will be the nominee. There is nobody who can outmatch President Trump’s energy or the enthusiasm he receives from Americans of all backgrounds,” he instead said.
The AP for its part notes that, regardless of the chatter, the new rule “sets up a potential clash with former President Donald Trump, who has raised the possibility of leaving the Republican Party and launching an independent candidacy if he does not win the Republican Party nomination outright.”
He raised the possibility in December when he shared an article to Truth Social from American Greatness calling for him to run independently: