Hated insurgent Donald Trump has finally bowed to pressure and signed off on the Stalinist loyalty oath concocted by the Republican party establishment. The pledge was delivered to him by RNC boss Reince Priebus who was under mounting pressure by the big money donors to bring the bombastic billionaire outsider to heel. How the pledge will affect the Donald’s lead in the polls and whether it will give the green light for the entire stable of establishment candidates to go for his throat has yet to be seen. However, to those who ardently supported him due to his independent status, the agreement to not run as a third-party candidate and support the nominee – effectively surrendering his leverage –there has to be more than a bit of a feeling of betrayal.
Trump’s acceptance of the new rules of engagement are reported by CNN in the story “Donald Trump signs RNC loyalty pledge”:
Donald Trump has signed the pledge.
The Republican presidential front-runner met privately with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus Thursday afternoon, and soon after, came out to the lobby of Trump Tower to declare that he has signed a loyalty pledge. This means Trump has promised to support the party's eventual nominee -- whoever that may be -- and that he will not run as a third-party candidate.
"The best way for the Republicans to win is if I win the nomination and go directly against whoever they happen to put up. And for that reason, I have signed the pledge," Trump said, holding up the paper. "So I will be totally pledging my allegiance to the Republican Party and for the conservative principles for which it stands."
He added: "We will go out and fight hard, and we will win."
All 17 Republican presidential candidates have now pledged to support the GOP's eventual presidential nominee, Priebus announced Thursday evening in a statement, billing it as a sign of "party unity."
But if Trump's official declaration of allegiance to the party serves to calm the nerves of establishment Republicans -- at least for now -- it could also invite backlash from some of the bombastic candidate's die-hard supporters.
Trump has propelled himself to the top of the polls by casting himself as an anti-establishment, outsider candidate, railing against career politicians and the Washington political class.
Signing an RNC pledge complicates that image.
The enthusiasm that Trump brought to a large segment of the party base struck mortal terror into the hearts of Priebus and the elite who much like the Democrats with Queen Hillary had already decided on their 2016 standard bearer “Jeb!”. Now a lot of those folks are naturally going to feel that they have been sold out again with the memory of the Boehner-McConnell backstabbing of November 2014 still fresh in their minds. While the Trump public relations team talked it up as a victory it may soon prove to the moment when the wave crested and then began to recede as the establishment has reasserted control over the process.
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