Donald Trump’s recent rejection of his pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee could potentially cost him the 50 delegates he netted last month in South Carolina’s GOP primary.
Last August, when Trump filed to appear on the ballot in South Carolina, the billionaire affirmed that he “generally believe[s] and intend[s] to support the nominees and platform of the Republican Party” in November. One month later, during a press conference at his gilded Manhattan skyscraper, Trump revealed a similar pledge that he’d signed for the Republican National Committee.
But on Tuesday, the GOP front-runner suggested he no longer stands by such promises.
“No, I don’t anymore,” Trump told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, when asked if he continued “to pledge to support whoever the Republican nominee is.”
The response has since raised questions about whether Trump’s opponents could challenge the whether his delegates are binding now that he’s seemingly reneged on the pledge he took when he filed for the first-in-the-South primary.
“The threat of stripping Trump of delegates and conversely of Trump filing a lawsuit all plays into the hands of the #NeverTrump movement. It’s an effective way to help erode Trump’s ability to retain pledged delegates,” said one GOP insider.
Even if no such challenge surfaces, the same insider suggested Trump’s constant back-and-forth on his commitment to the GOP should encourage delegates to gravitate towards another candidate at the convention if the vote proceeds to a second ballot.
“The validity of the pledge isn’t as important as the message being sent to delegates: Trump is not the best choice for the Republican Party and delegates should feel free to switch their vote after their legal obligation ends,” he said.
South Carolina GOP Chairman Matt Moore claims he has yet to be made aware of any efforts to unbind Trump’s delegates at this time. Moore told the Washington Examiner that if such a complaint does emerge, the party will defer to the “national convention committee.”
“Breaking South Carolina’s presidential primary ballot pledge raises some unanswered legal questions that no one person can answer,” he told Time Thursday afternoon. “However, a court or national convention Committee on Contests could resolve them.”
Earlier this week, a senior adviser to Trump said the businessman plans to move forward with a complaint against the Louisiana GOP over its delegate distribution.
The Trump campaign has not yet signaled how it would respond to a separate delegate debacle in South Carolina, and a spokeswoman did not respond to the Examiner’s request for comment.
