(CNSNews.com) – During a Sunday interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said she fully expects there to be a requirement that all GOP primary candidates taking part in the primary debates pledge to support whomever the eventual Republican nominee will be.

During the Feb. 26 interview, Bash asked Ronna McDaniel if all candidates will “be required to sign a pledge saying that they will support whomever becomes the nominee, in order to get on that debate stage?”

“We haven’t put the criteria out, but I expect a pledge will be part of it,” McDaniel replied.

“It was part of 2016; I think it’s kind of a no-brainer, right? 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.’

As RNC Chair, if I said I wouldn’t support the Republican nominee, I would be removed from office. I would. I’d be rightly removed; it’d be part of our bylaws, and I would be kicked out as RNC Chair.

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.’”

Dana Bash then played a recording of an interview between radio host Hugh Hewitt and former President Donald Trump, in which Hewitt asked Trump, “If you’re not the nominee, would you support whoever the GOP nominee is?”

“It would depend. I would give you the same answer I gave in 2016 during the debates,” replied Trump who made clear that “it would have to depend on who the nominee was.”

“So are you prepared to block the former President if he doesn’t sign it?” Bash asked McDaniel.

“Well, he signed it in 2016. He did, everybody signed it in 2016,” McDaniel said of the former president.                                                

“This is about the here and the now; he didn’t commit to it,” said Bash.

“I think they’re all gonna sign it, I really do, McDaniel answered. “I think the voters are really intent on winning and they do not want to see a debate stage of people saying ‘I’m not going to support this guy, I’m not going to support this guy.’ What they need to say is ‘I’m going to do everything I can to defeat Joe Biden and that means supporting the nominee of the Republican party.’”

 “You can’t see a scenario where Donald Trump would just skip if he’s forced to sign something saying he will support others?”               

“I think they all want to be on the debate stage. I think President Trump would like to be on the debate stage. That’s what he likes to do and I’ll expect they’ll all be there,” assured McDaniel.

This is not the first time Donald Trump’s reluctance to pledge his support to the eventual GOP nominee has been a topic of discussion. During the first debate of the 2015 GOP primary, debate moderator Brett Baier asked, “Is there anyone on stage, and can I see hands, who is unwilling tonight to pledge your support to the eventual nominee of the Republican party and pledge to not run an independent campaign against that person?”

Of all the candidates on stage, Trump was the only one to raise his hand.