ELECTION 2016
FOX PUNDIT: GOP PLEDGE 'STUPID AND INSULTING'
Loyalty vow heats up Trump campaign trail
Cheryl Chumley
Monica Crowley, noted conservative political pundit, took to Fox News airwaves Thursday to call out the Republican National Committee for its plans to circulate a loyalty pledge among the GOP presidential candidates, saying bluntly: The idea’s “stupid,” she said
“[It's] stupid and insulting,” Crowley told Fox’s Bill Hemmer, during a morning interview.
The loyalty pledge is widely seen as a means of boxing in top-ranked Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman who’s at the top of the polls in his bid for president.
RNC members on Wednesday began reaching out to other GOP candidates to gauge their willingness to sign a paper vowing not to run as an Independent if they don’t get the GOP nod in the primary, Business Insider reported. Trump is the only candidate who’s even hinted at such a maneuver – and he, in fact, has more than hinted, saying on several public previous occasions the RNC wasn’t treating him well and he would definitely consider a third-party run, as WND has reported.
The RNC is seeking to squelch that notion. As Politico reported, the pledge the group is circulating reads: “I [name] affirm that if I do not win the 2016 Republican nomination for president of the United States I will endorse the 2016 Republican presidential nominee regardless of who it is. 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.”
Trump, meanwhile, has announced a meeting with RNC chairman Reince Priebus on Thursday in New York. The candidate’s also due to hold a press conference at 2 p.m., in part to speak about the pledge.
It’s not clear what he’ll say – WND’s Jerome Corsi will be covering, on scene – but Trump has already been forced to present his views of the matter in the Republican Party’s first televised presidential debate. Then, Fox News moderator Bret Baier pressed the issue in his opening remarks and question, pointedly asking Trump if he’d commit to staying within the Republican Party.
Trump’s response at the time: No.
Since, other GOP candidates have come forward and said they would sign such a pledge. It’s not clear what the fallout to Trump would be if he continues to oppose taking the vow.
George Will, a leading pundit for the establishment conservative camp, said party faithful and leaders could conceivably press the need for future presidential debates to only include those candidates who agree to stick with the Republican Party.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/09/fox-pundit-gop-pledge-stupid-and-insulting/#vIB88BomU5PJOm4U.99
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