Republican Candidates Back Out of Pledge to Support Party Nominee

During CNN’s town hall hosted by Anderson Cooper on Tuesday evening, all three remaining Republican candidates backed away from earlier pledges that they would support the party’s eventual presidential nominee.

Cooper asked Trump outright if he planned to continue to pledge support for whoever the nominee is and Trump replied, “No, I don’t anymore.”

With a bit of prodding, Trump accused the Republican National Committee and the establishment of “treating him very unfairly.”

Trump’s comments came after Ted Cruz effectively said he’d withdraw his pledge if Trump became the nominee.

Cruz said, “I’m not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family.” Adding, “I think nominating Donald Trump would be an absolute trainwreck, I think it would hand the general election to Hillary Clinton.”

Cruz’s unwillingness to consider supporting Trump as the party’s nominee shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Last week things between the pair got heated after they squared off in defense of their of wives’ honor.

Cruz called Trump a “sniveling coward” after the business mogul threatened to “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife Heidi. The threats came after a super pac-funded attack ad endorsing Cruz used a nude image from a GQ photoshoot of Trump’s wife Melania to target Utah’s conservative Mormon base.

Ohio Governor John Kaisch also refused to say that he would absolutely support the party’s nominee,  admitting to Cooper that he and his fellow candidates probably shouldn’t have agreed to the pledge in the first place.

“I have got to see what happens,” Kasich said. “If the nominee is somebody I think is really hurting the country and dividing the country, I can’t stand behind them.”

During the town hall Trump also addressed the scandal involving his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. Lewandowski was arrested and charged with simple battery of the reporter, after she claimed that he aggressively grabbed her during a campaign rally in Jupiter, Florida.

Trump doubled down in defense of Lewandowski, claiming he has no intention of “discarding” him. At one point Trump even speculated that Secret Service was suspicious of the pen Fields was carrying in her hand, because it  could have been a “little bomb“

Trump fueled the flames further by sending out the following tweet criticizing the charges, which drew a response from Fields.

Wow, Corey Lewandowski, my campaign manager and a very decent man, was just charged with assaulting a reporter. Look at tapes-nothing there!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2016

Because my story never changed. Seriously, just stop lying. https://t.co/1fz9cBHOuT

— Michelle Fields (@MichelleFields) March 29, 2016

We’ll have to wait and see if Trump continues to support his campaign manager as the case moves forward, but he’s already being criticized by candidates from both parties.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign spokesman Brian Fallon commented on the charges telling CNN, “It is a very serious charge the Trump campaign will have to answer for and obviously every candidate is responsible for the culture they create in their campaign.”

So, while it may not surprise anyone, the GOP race is getting even nastier than it has been, and a fight at the convention is still a possibility.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.