In a repeat of the 2016 Republican primary season, Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he won’t sign the RNC loyalty pledge.

During a Newsmax interview, the former president told Eric Bolling:

I wouldn’t sign the pledge. Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have. I wouldn’t have certain people as somebody that I would endorse. 

That’s so Trump: it’s all about me and what I want.

He added:

They want you to sign a pledge, but I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president. So right there there’s a problem.

Trump didn’t specify whom the “three or four people” are, but speculation is that it includes former AR Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former NJ Gov. Chris Christie. Why these two?

“They would ask me nasty questions.”

Says the guy who calls his rivals juvenile names. Pot, meet kettle.

Tenor.com.

But both Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy signed the pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee. Ramaswamy was the first to sign, and DeSantis followed on Wednesday. Both candidates have qualified to be participants in the first Republican debate on August 23 in Milwaukee.

And speaking of the debate …

Trump Hasn’t Said If He’ll Show Up for the Debate

Not only has Donald Trump refused to sign the RNC pledge, he’s stringing political watchers and his loyal base along by saying that he’s not sure if he’ll even debate in two weeks. But he’ll let everyone know next week, he told Bolling:

I’ve already decided, and I’ll be announcing something next week. I haven’t totally ruled it out.

He reminds me of those jerks who women date during their single years — the type who string them along and refuse to commit.

As Trump told John Catsimatidis of WABC Radio in New York:

People don’t debate when they have these massive leads. They say, ‘Why would we debate?’ I would have a hostile group of anchors — a hostile network — asking questions. Why would I do that?

Once again, the tough guy doesn’t want to deal with “hostile” anchors who might ask him “nasty” questions.

Maybe Chris Christie had a point when he told News Nation on Wednesday that Trump is a “coward” if he misses the debate.

What is Donald Trump afraid of? His opponents pointing out his failure to rein in Anthony Fauci? Or that he didn’t finish the border wall, which Mexico was also going to pay for? What about his pledge to cut the national debt, which actually rose 39% under his watch — even before the pandemic?

Maybe he doesn’t want to be reminded that dozens of Trump Cabinet officials now refuse to support their former boss. I guess it’s because they were “nasty” to him or something.

But then again, perhaps Trump has something else up his sleeve. Earlier this summer, scuttlebutt from the DJT camp indicated that he might be planning counter programming for the evening of the debate. Because while Trump may not understand policy, there’s one thing he knows better than anyone else: how to draw attention to himself. And stringing people along is a great way to keep their interest.

Is the RNC Pledge Really Necessary?

Ironically, Chris Christie doesn’t like the RNC loyalty pledge. In fact, in June on CNN’s “State of the Union” he said:

I think the pledge is just a useless idea. And by the way, 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.

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

But because it is the age of Trump, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel made the “Beat Biden Pledge” a priority for the candidates. It’s also a requirement for the candidates to participate in the debates.

The pledge also reads:

I affirm that if I do not win the 2024 Republican nomination for President of the United States, I will honor the will of the primary voters and support the 2024 Republican presidential nominee in order to save our country and beat Joe Biden.

I further pledge that I will not seek to run as an independent or write-in candidate nor will I seek or accept the nomination for president of any other party.

Problem is — the pledge can’t be enforced. And Donald Trump knows this. So why have it?

It’s mere window-dressing, to be sure. But it does say something about the people who sign it: that for them, beating back Joe Biden and the Democrat progressive agenda is the most important thing. Even if it means they need to swallow their pride and endorse someone with whom they are at odds. For Republicans, the future of the country is more important than their egos, and that’s as it should be.

Except for one candidate, apparently. And like the single woman whose man won’t commit to her, Republicans need to dump this narcissist and find someone who truly cares about something bigger than himself.

Featured image: “GOP Elephant – Caricature” by DonkeyHotey is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Cropped.