Former president Donald Trump signed a pledge to accept the eventual 2024 GOP nominee when filing to become a presidential candidate in South Carolina, even though he has repeatedly refused to sign the RNC’s similar pledge that is a prerequisite for joining the first Republican primary debate in August.
Last week, Trump’s campaign announced that he officially filed to become a candidate in South Carolina.
“President Trump officially files to become a candidate in South Carolina after he delivered a rousing speech at the SCGOP Silver Elephant Dinner,” his team tweeted. “President Trump will once again dominate the First in the South Primary on February 24!”
As a condition of registering, however, Trump had to sign the South Carolina Republican filing form, which includes a loyalty pledge.
“I hereby affirm that I generally believe in and intend to support the nominees and platform of the Republican Party in the November 5, 2024 General Election; that I will not knowingly violate any election law or any law defining and prohibiting corrupt and fraudulent practices in campaigns and elections in this state. . . ,” the form states.
In a Wednesday interview with Newsmax’s Eric Bolling, Trump said he would not sign the RNC’s pledge to support the eventual nominee. However, acceding to the pledge is necessary to participate in the upcoming primary debate scheduled for August 23 in Milwaukee.
“I wouldn’t sign the pledge. Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have. I wouldn’t have certain people as somebody that I would endorse,” Trump said. He did not specify which individuals he would not support.
Trump has suggested he may not attend the debate. He has noted his winning margin in recent polling against other candidates, namely Governor DeSantis, conservative commentator and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and his former vice president Mike Pence, as a reason not to engage, as it may give the others an opportunity to erode his lead.
DeSantis signed the South Carolina form in July and the RNC’s pledge on Wednesday. Ramaswamy signed the RNC pledge earlier this week. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley signed the pledge, provided to Fox News, on Thursday.
Trump said he plans to share next week whether he will be part of the debate.
“I’ve already decided, and I’ll be announcing something next week,” Trump said. “I haven’t totally ruled it out.”
When asked by National Review for clarification regarding Trump’s willingness to sign one pledge but thus far refuse the other, the Trump campaign declined to comment. It’s unclear whether Trump intends to violate the South Carolina pledge.