DeSantis, Haley RNC Loyalty Pledge to Be Eligible for GOP Primary Debate

Florida Governor and 2024 Republican Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis speaks at the Republican Party of Iowa's 2023 Lincoln Dinner at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 28, 2023. Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have signed a loyalty pledge mandated by the Republican National Committee (RNC)—promising to support the eventual GOP nominee for the 2024 race.

Mr. DeSantis signed the pledge Wednesday, according to an Aug. 10 post on social media by Team DeSantis. This makes him eligible to participate in the first GOP presidential primary debate scheduled for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee. He agreed that if he does not become the official GOP presidential nominee for the 2024 elections, he will “honor the will of the primary voters and support the nominee in order to save our country and beat Joe Biden.”

Mr. DeSantis also pledged that he will “not seek to run as an independent or write-in candidate,” and neither will he “seek or accept the nomination for president of any other party.”

“I acknowledge and accept that if I fail to sign this pledge or if I participate in any debate that has not been sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, I will not be eligible to participate in any further Republican Committee-sanctioned debates.”

Ms. Haley also signed the document, Fox News reported.

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy was the only candidate previously to sign the pledge, which is required to participate in the upcoming debate.

Potential candidates also have to garner at least 40,000 unique donors and a minimum of 200 unique donors from 20 or more states and territories. They must also be polling at a minimum of 1 percent in three national polls. Alternatively, the candidate has to have at least 1 percent in two national polls as well as in an early state poll from two out of these four states—Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Those who meet that criteria are Mr. DeSantis, Ms. Haley, Mr. Ramaswamy, President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

Trump Not Signing

Some candidates like President Trump and former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Tex.) have already indicated that they do not intend to sign the pledge.

In the GOP primary debate back in 2015, President Trump was the only person to not raise his hands when the potential candidates were asked whether they would support whoever the eventual nominee was going to be.

However, President Trump did eventually sign the RNC pledge.

In a recent interview with Newsmax, President Trump said that he “wouldn’t sign the pledge.”

“Why would I sign a pledge?” the former president asked. “I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president. So, right there, there’s a problem.”

President Trump refused to say the names: “I don’t want to do that. There’s no reason to insult them. But, there’s some people there that a lot of people wouldn’t endorse. They’re not gonna go anywhere. They’re not gonna get it.”

President Trump indicated that he may skip the Aug. 23 debate altogether, pointing to the significant lead he enjoys in primary polls. He also raised concerns that if he participates in the debate, other candidates may use the opportunity to target him and gain traction.

In June, Mr. Hurd told CNN that he “won’t be signing any kind of pledges, and I don’t think parties should be trying to rig who should be on a debate stage.”

“I am not in the business of lying to the American people in order to get a microphone, and I’m not going to support Donald Trump. And so I can’t honestly say I’m going to sign something even if he may or may not be the nominee.”

Mr. Hurd reiterated his stance in an early July interview with the outlet.

The Loyalty Pledge

Mr. Christie, another GOP presidential candidate who has qualified for the debate, called the RNC pledge a “useless idea” in an interview with CNN in June.

“It’s only in the era of Donald Trump that you need somebody to sign something on a pledge. So I think it’s a bad idea.”

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel insists that the pledge is necessary in the interests of the party.

“Once it’s all done and the dust is settled, and you’ve made your best case, if the voters choose someone else, then you need to get behind who the voters chose and make sure we beat Joe Biden,” she said in an interview with CNN.

“We can’t have division. We can’t have people who get on the debate stage who are going to come out and say, ‘I’m not going to support the eventual nominee.’”

Following the August debate, a second GOP primary debate is scheduled to be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on Sept. 27. To qualify, candidates must hit at least 50,000 unique donors and reach a minimum of 3 percent in polls.

“We should be stepping up the criteria,” Ms. McDaniel said in an Aug. 2 interview with Fox News while justifying the stricter requirements.

“Once you get on the debate stage and you get in front of the American people, if you’re not having momentum, if you’re not showing growth in your campaign, then that’s a problem. And we need to make sure that we are putting in front of the Republican primary voters the candidate who’s going to take on [President] Joe Biden.”