Presidential candidate Chris Christie slammed the Republican National Committee’s requirement that candidates pledge support for the GOP’s eventual presidential nominee.
“Look, I think the pledge is just a useless idea,” Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday during “State of the Union.”
Earlier this month, the RNC released the requirements Republican candidates must fulfill in order to take part in primary debates, including reaching 1% in three national polls, amassing 40,000 unique donors to their campaign committee, and signing a pledge agreeing to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee.
The RNC said last week it would not amend its presidential campaign pledge following pushback from 2024 candidate Asa Hutchinson, who criticized the possibility that candidates would be pledging support for a potential “convicted felon.”
REPUBLICAN PARTY RELEASES REQUIREMENTS FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES HOPING TO MAKE FIRST 2024 PRIMARY DEBATE
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie opposes requiring Republican candidates to sign a pledge to support whomever the GOP presidential nominee is. (Wade Vandervort/AFP via Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner for 2024, was indicted on federal charges this month related to alleged willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements. Trump pleaded not guilty and dismissed the charges as a “witch hunt.”
“In all my life, we never had to have Republican primary candidates take a pledge. You know, we were Republicans, and the idea is you’d support the Republican whether you won or whether you lost, and you didn’t have to ask somebody to sign something,” Christie said Sunday of the pledge.
RNC WEIGHS REQUIRING LOYALTY PLEDGE FROM EVERY 2024 GOP CANDIDATE TO SUPPORT EVENTUAL REPUBLICAN NOMINEE
“It’s only in the era of Donald Trump that you need somebody to sign something on a pledge. So I think…
