The Republican National Committee is expected to require GOP presidential candidates to sign a pledge to support the party’s eventual nominee in order to participate in the 2024 debates, according to a new report.
The RNC’s Temporary Standing Committee on Presidential Debates will meet next week to adopt rules that outline which candidates may participate in the party’s debates. The committee is expected to approve the draft language of the loyalty pledge, the Associated Press reported.
“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 told the AP when asked about the loyalty pledge.
A senior Trump aide didn’t say whether the 45th president would sign such a pledge, according to the report. A campaign spokesman similarly avoided the question.
“President Trump is the undisputed leader of the Republican Party and will be the nominee,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told the AP. “There is nobody who can outmatch President Trump’s energy or the enthusiasm he receives from Americans of all backgrounds.”
Trump has previously suggested he would leave the GOP and run as an independent if he fails to win the Republican nomination.
In May 2016, Trump signed a pledge not to run as an independent in that cycle after then-RNC chairman Reince Priebus personally called on him to sign. The party remains concerned that a Trump defection could steal much-needed votes from the eventual nominee, if he decided to run as an independent instead.
The committee is considering a GOP debate season that would begin in late July and include between 10 and 12 debates. In addition to the loyalty pledge, the committee is expected to adopt new criteria for debate participants that would include a donor threshold. Participants will also be asked to sign a pledge vowing to avoid general election debates hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
The RNC first signaled in January 2022 that it would move to restrict Republican candidates from participating in debates hosted by the nonprofit commission. Republicans do not trust that the commission is truly fair and impartial.
So far, Trump and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley are the only two Republicans to formally join the race. Florida governor Ron DeSantis is widely considered a top 2024 contender, though he is not expected to join the race until the state’s legislative session ends in May.
More than a dozen others may be eyeing a run for the presidency, including former vice president Mike Pence, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, former national-security adviser John Bolton, Senator Tim Scott (R., S.C.), and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.