RNC chairwoman says GOP presidential debate participants must ‘pledge’ to support party nominee

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced Wednesday that participants in the GOP’s 2024 presidential primary debates will have to “pledge” to support the party’s eventual nominee before being allowed onstage. 

“If you’re going to be on the RNC debate stage, you’re going to pledge to the voters that when the dust settles, you’re going to support the [GOP] nominee,” McDaniel told John Catsimatidis, host of the “Cats & Cosby Show” on WABC 770 AM. 

“Because at the end of the day it’s about beating Joe Biden and not about fighting each other,” she argued.

Earlier Wednesday, McDaniel announced that the first 2024 GOP presidential primary debate will be held in August in Milwaukee, in partnership with Fox News, Young America’s Foundation and Rumble. 

McDaniel signaled that former President Donald Trump will make the pledge and participate in the debate, and that those who say they’ll refuse to support Trump if he’s the nominee won’t be given the platform.

“[Trump] has said publicly, ‘I’m going to support the pledge because I’m going to be the nominee, ’” McDaniel said, adding, “And then you have a whole bunch of people say, ‘I will not support Donald Trump if he’s the nominee.’ Well, then you’re not going to be on our debate stage,” McDaniel told Catsimatidis

“You’re not going to come onto the RNC debate stage saying, ‘I’m so much more important than the Party and the voters.’ It’s going to be a fair contest … Why would we support anybody who won’t support our eventual nominee?” she added. 

The RNC chair seemed confident that the GOP nominee could beat Biden, but said infighting over matters such as the pledge could doom the party. 

“The only thing we can do to lose is to fight amongst ourselves,” McDaniel said.