GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis torched Donald Trump over the former president’s refusal to sign the Republican National Committee’s pledge of supporting the eventual party nominee in 2024.
DeSantis spoke to reporters in Iowa, where he slammed Trump for refusing to sign the RNC pledge. The Florida governor noted that he had signed the pledge — being one of the first to do so — and jammed Trump for suggesting he may not support the eventual nominee.
“I mean, you can’t, on the one hand, say that the country’s going in such a bad direction, which we all believe, and then, on the other hand, say you’re just going to take your ball and go home,” DeSantis said.
“Really? So, you know, I’m happy to do that. I’ve voted Republican my whole life,” the Florida governor added. “And, you know, even though, you know, I’m confident we’ll be the nominee, at the end of the day, you know, you respect the judgment of how this works out, and you don’t take your ball and go home.”
“It’s not just about you. It’s about a larger mission that we have to accomplish for Americans,” DeSantis continued.
Trump has repeatedly indicated that he would not sign the RNC pledge, claiming that several candidates in the crowded GOP field have been “nasty” toward him. The former president has also expressed no interest in attending RNC-sanctioned debates, arguing that because of his high polling numbers, there’s really no need to debate.
In an interview with Newsmax host Eric Bolling on Wednesday, the former president said signing the pledge would not be worth it.
“I wouldn’t sign the pledge,” Trump said. “Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have?”
“I wouldn’t have certain people as, you know, somebody that I endorse. So they want you to sign a pledge,” the former president said, referring to the candidate field. “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.”
Trump called the RNC’s criteria for participating in debates low, claiming that he would not want to give candidates polling at one percent a chance to say “nasty” things about him.
“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 cited former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, who at one point or another chose to skip primary debates.
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