Republican candidates no longer pledge to support GOP nominee
During CNN’s town hall event on Tuesday, all three remaining Republican presidential candidates effectively renounced the agreement they signed last fall to back the eventual GOP nominee.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s unflattering tweets about his wife went too far.
“I’m not in the habit of supporting someone who attacked my wife and attacked my family,” Cruz said. “I think that is going beyond the line. I think our wives, I think our kids, should be off limits. They don’t belong in the attacks.
“Listen, I’m not an easy person to tick off,” Cruz continued. “But when you go after my wife, when you go after my daughters, that does it. And I think — I want this race to stay focused on policy and issues and solutions to the real problems facing America. That’s where I’m going to stay focused. But if other candidates don’t, I think that’s beyond the pale.”
In September, the Republican National Committee made all of the GOP candidates sign a pledge to back the party’s nominee — a move that was seen at the time as a tool to prevent Trump from launching an independent bid.
Trump, Cruz and Kasich stand together before the start of the Republican presidential debate in Miami on March 10. (Photo: Wilfredo Lee/AP)
“I [name] affirm that if I do not win the 2016 Republican nomination for president of the United States I will endorse the 2016 Republican presidential nominee regardless of who it is,” the pledge read. “I further pledge that I will not seek to run as an independent or write-in candidate nor will I seek or accept the nomination for president of any other party.”
“The best way for the Republicans to win is if I win the nomination and go directly against whoever they happen to put up,” Trump said at the time. “And for that reason, I have signed the pledge.”
But on Tuesday, Trump said he would no longer pledge to support the party’s nominee because he’s “been treated very unfairly” by the Republican National Committee, the Republican Party and the GOP establishment.
The real estate mogul added that he doesn’t want Cruz’s support.
“I don’t want his support,” Trump said. “I don’t need his support.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich said he probably shouldn’t have taken the pledge in the first place.
“Probably shouldn’t have even answered that question,” Kasich said. “If the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country and dividing the country, I can’t stand behind them.”
One person Trump is pledging to stand behind: his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who was charged on Tuesday with assaulting a reporter following a press conference at Trump’s own country club in Jupiter, Fla., earlier this month.
“It would be so easy for me to terminate this man, ruin his life, ruin his family,” Trump said, “ruin his whole everything and say, ‘You’re fired.’ OK, I’ve fired many people, especially on ‘The Apprentice.’”
“The problem is everybody dumps people when there’s a sign of political incorrectness,” he added. “I’m a loyal person. I’m going to be loyal for the country.”
