Donald Trump said he would not sign a pledge to the Republican Party. The oath requires candidates to back the future Republican nominee and is required to participate in the first primary debate.
“I wouldn’t sign the pledge,” Trump told Newsmax‘s Eric Bolling. “Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have?”
The former president continued, “I wouldn’t have certain people as, you know, somebody that I endorse. So they want you to sign a pledge. I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president. So right there, there’s a problem right there. There’s a problem.”
This likely means that Trump will not participate in the first primary debate. However, it appears Trump is eager to avoid facing several of his rivals who have been critical of his term in office.
“You look at the debate, and they want you to debate, but you’re debating — it’s not really fair — somebody like Asa Hutchinson, who’s polling at zero percent, will ask me nasty questions,” Trump said. “Somebody like Chris Christie is falling at 1%, and he’s going to ask me nasty questions and others, too.”
Trump was indicted for the third time this month, with the former president being charged in Washington over his endeavors to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He has also been charged with the illegal retention of top secret documents, and in New York, he faces criminal charges in a hush money case and a civil trial over his business practices.
Despite his many legal woes, Trump remains the leading Republican candidate.
“Why would you do that when you’re leading by so much?” Trump questioned. “Ronald Reagan didn’t do it. Nixon didn’t do it. Many people didn’t do it. But I’m going to look at it very seriously. I’d like to do it. I’ve actually gotten very good marks on debating talents. But you want to be, you know, they want a smart president. They want somebody that’s going to be smart. So we have to do the smart thing.”
