WASHINGTON — With his typical showmanship and a hint of the absurd, Donald Trump promised Thursday to forgo an independent bid for the White House if he loses his quest for the Republican nomination, a move that was aimed at easing worries of the party establishment but may only serve to boost his unpredictable, rogue campaign.
Standing in the opulent and packed lobby of his Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan, Trump held up a document — which was mistakenly dated Aug. 3 instead of Sept. 3. — at a midday news conference and declared he was “pledging allegiance to the Republican Party and the conservative principles for which it stands.”
He signed the document, he said, because he believes the best way for a Republican to win the White House is for Trump to secure the party’s nomination and face off directly against a Democrat.
“For that reason, I have signed the pledge,” he said, lifting and posing with the backdated paper in front of a throng of flashing cameras. He later tweeted another, correctly dated copy, without acknowledging the mistake.
Republican Party officials circulated the 70-word pledge to all 17 GOP candidates this week, but the effort was aimed squarely at the one leading the pack in most polls. The billionaire celebrity was the only top-tier candidate who would not publicly promise to rule out an independent bid in the general election when he was asked to do so at the first primary debate last month.
The prospect of Trump paying for his own third-party campaign sends shivers down the spines of the GOP officials, who believe such an endeavor, however unlikely, would pull conservative voters away from the nominee and hand victory to the Democrats.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus met with Trump on Thursday at the tower to collect the document. Priebus left the building without commenting at the news conference.
For all its theatrics, the Republican National Committee’s scheme has little practical or legal significance. And Trump’s adherence to it may be as enduring as the first version he waved at the lectern.
Election lawyers say the pledge is not legally binding because it does not promise the parties anything in return for their loyalty.
Trump told reporters he received “absolutely nothing, other than the assurance that I would be treated fairly” in return for his signature, a statement that might leave some room for later interpretation. Asked whether he would change his mind, he said, “No, I have no intention of changing my mind.”
The party appears to be simply banking on candidates’ unwillingness to break a promise, Hasen noted.
“If (Trump) later changed his mind, he would be painted as a hypocrite for promising one thing and doing something else,” Hasen said.
