In true fascist form, the Republican National Committee is sticking with its insistence that all GOP 2024 candidates pledge to back the Republican nominee—even if they're a twice-impeached, twice-indicted potential convict—in order to participate in the first presidential debate on Aug. 23.
“It’s the Republican Party nomination, and the pledge is staying," RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said on Fox last week.
Lower that hammer, McDaniel.
But let's face it, the GOP field is chock full of weasels, starting with the guy at the top–Donald Trump–and nearly every candidate is trying to squirm out of pledging their loyalty to someone whose indictment haul would make Al Capone blush.
Trump himself set the pace in early February, saying his support would “depend on who the nominee was.” The toothless RNC's failure to call Trump to account rendered the entire pledge a mockery moving forward.
RNC: 0-1.
That left Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the distant number 2 in the race, talking in circles. Asked last week if he would support Trump, DeSantis responded, “It’s like, I want to beat Biden, OK? I will do that. I will get that done. And I think, more importantly than that, I will actually bring these policies for a landing and get it all done up there.”
Trump-Shmump. DeSantis is going to do all the stuff, okay?
After being called on his dodge, DeSantis double-dodged a week later: "I said, you run this process, you compete, and you respect the outcome of the process. And I’ve always said that. And so that’s what I said before." He added in a requisite "I think I’m going to be the nominee," and further hedged, "No matter what happens, I’m going to work to beat Joe Biden."
RNC: 0-2.
Former Vice President Mike Pence was only slightly more compliant about pledging to support the man who tried to get him hanged.
“I’ll support the Republican nominee in 2024, especially if it’s me,” the good Boy Scout told CNN's Dana Bash earlier this month. Asked specifically about Trump, Pence's on-again-off-again alpha, he offered, "I don’t think Donald Trump’s going to be the nominee.”
RNC: 0.5-2.
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley appears to have done enough polling to realize supporting Trump, criming and all, is a nonnegotiable. The Hill confirmed she would take the pledge, but Haley did manage to weaponize it against her rivals.
“Absolutely irresponsible that Trump, DeSantis, and others won’t commit 100% to supporting the Republican nominee," Haley tweeted last week. "There’s no room for personal vendettas in this battle to save our country. Any Republican would be better than a President Kamala Harris."
RNC: 1.5-2.5.
The ultimate weasel move came from tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
“What I’ll say is, if the other candidates in this race make that pledge, I will stand by and be willing to, because that’s a condition for open debate in our own party,” Ramaswamy told Fox.
He clarified later: "I’m ready to play ball, but I require the other candidates to play ball as well."
RNC: 1.5-3.5.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson both fall into the category of loathing Trump but basically pledging to do whatever it takes to make the debate stage.
“I’m going to meet the criteria, whatever is set, to get on the debate stage,” said Hutchinson, who has complained bitterly about the loyalty oath. Hutchinson has also flat-out refused to vote for and support Trump "if he's a convicted felon."
RNC: 1.5-4.5.
Earlier this month, Christie dismissed a loyalty pledge as "useless."
“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," Christie told CNN, adding that he's made his views clear to McDaniel.
Still, Christie maintained, "I will do what I need to do to be up on that stage to try to save my party and save my country from going down the road of being led by three-time loser Donald Trump."
But Christie has also said he'll take the pledge as seriously as Trump did in 2016, when he immediately reneged on the pledge during a show of hands in the first debate.
RNC: 1.5-5.5.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina hasn't made a hard commitment to support Trump, saying only, "All Republican candidates would be better than any Democrat candidate."
RNC: 1.5-5.5, 1TBD.
Finally, former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, who entered the race last week, didn't mince words, telling CNN that he "won't be signing any kind of pledges" and doesn't support the RNC rigging the 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,” Hurd added.
RNC: 1.5-6.5, 1TBD
The RNC is likely feeling pretty comfortable with that conversion rate given that it makes a concerted effort to adopt the least popular positions possible. And hey, Tim Scott's still gettable, which would put them right in the party's 33% sweet spot.
Haley, however, is in the highly unusual position of straying from the pack. Must feel pretty edgy for someone who specializes in taking perfectly meh positions.