A source with knowledge of these matters has confirmed to Breitbart News exclusively that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus will meet with Donald Trump “at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan tomorrow afternoon to discuss the ‘loyalty pledge.'”
Politico reported earlier today that the RNC plans to ask candidates to sign a pledge that they will support whoever is nominated by the Republican Party and not oppose them in the general election. The political magazine speculated that the pledge is designed to “force the front-runner’s [Trump’s] hand”:
The Republican National Committee on Wednesday privately reached out to GOP presidential candidates to ask whether they’d be willing to sign a pledge stating they would not run as an independent candidate in the event they fail to win the Republican nomination in 2016.
The move is an implicit challenge to Trump, who pointedly refused to rule out a third-party run during the first GOP debate. He was the only candidate who declined.
The language of the draft pledge speaks directly to the issue vexing Republicans – the possibility that the billionaire could choose to wage a third party bid if he fails to win the GOP nomination, a prospect that could seriously damage the GOP’s prospects of reclaiming the White House. Tapping into deep anti-establishment animosity among the conservative grassroots, Trump has surged to the lead of the deepest presidential field in recent memory. If Trump were to pull just a fraction of the vote as an independent, write-in or third party candidate, it could be enough to sink the eventual Republican nominee.
The source also tells Breitbart News that requesting candidates to pledge not to run as a third party has been a topic of internal debate at the Republican National Committee for several weeks.
Earlier today, Breitbart News released the August results of the “Breitbart Primary” online straw poll. Four out of five first place votes went to either non-politicians or anti-establishment candidates.
It has also been reported that Trump will address the media tomorrow afternoon.