Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Sunday that she expects 2024 GOP presidential contenders will have to sign a pledge to back the party’s ultimate nominee in order to participate in primary debates.
“We haven’t put the criteria out, but I expect a pledge will be part of it. It was part of 2016. I think it’s kind of a no-brainer, right? If you’re going to be on the Republican National Committee debate stage asking voters to support you, you should say, ‘I’m going to support the voters and who they choose as the nominee,’” McDaniel told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” in her first interview since winning a contentious race for a fourth term as RNC chairwoman.
“As RNC chair, if I said I wouldn’t support the Republican nominee, I would be removed from office,” she said.
Asked if there would be other requirements for candidates to get onto the debate stage, McDaniel said, “I think there should be a threshold.”
“You want to make sure you have people on the debate stage who are running for president. We don’t want people who are running for book deals, or media contracts, or Cabinet positions,” she said.
Republicans who have launched presidential bids includ former President Donald Trump, former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, but many more are signaling interest. Among them are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Mike Pompeo, Trump’s former secretary of state.
DeSantis called for “some new blood in the RNC” prior to McDaniel’s win in January, while offering praise for Harmeet Dhillon, one of her opponents for the chair position. Asked by Bash if she had spoken to the Florida governor since then, McDaniel said, “Ron and I have a good relationship. And we’re going to work well…
Read the full article here