DeSantis tells Trump ‘don’t take your ball and go home’ on declining GOP loyalty pledge

DES MOINES, Iowa (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis reacted to former President Donald Trump denying a 2024 Republican nomination loyalty pledge while at the Iowa State Fair over the weekend.

DeSantis signed the “Beat Biden Pledge” last week.

“We have signed the pledge to support the nominee because ultimately, the mission of reversing the country’s decline is bigger than any one person,” DeSantis told a gaggle of press. “You know, I think I’ll be the nominee and we’ll get the job done. But at the end of the day, you don’t take your ball and go home.”

“It’s not just about you, you got to be willing to stand up and support the team,” he added, continuing to argue that a candidate like Trump may be running for president more about himself than “the broader public and the American people.”

“At the end of the day, our campaign is important. It’s a vessel, but ultimately, this is about the country, this is about the American people,” DeSantis continued. “And if you’re going around saying that – which I agree with – that Biden is doing a bad job and the country is going in the wrong direction, I think you have a responsibility to do everything in your power to ensure that he doesn’t get four more years to be able to do that.”

“So, I think every candidate should agree to support the nominee, 100%.”

At the Iowa State Fair, both Trump and DeSantis made appearances.

DeSantis was joined by a group of Iowa lawmakers while Trump was accompanied by Florida Republican leaders who endorsed the former president over DeSantis.

Last week, on the loyalty pledge, Trump said he wouldn’t sign it because “there are people on there that I wouldn’t have, I wouldn’t have certain people [as president].”

“So, they want you to sign a pledge, but I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president,” he continued. “So, right there, there’s a problem.”

The pledge notes that any candidate who signs it can only appear in primary and general election debates sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, in addition to pledging to support the party’s eventual nominee.

Candidates who sign must also agree to not run as an independent or write-in candidate for president, and seek or accept the nomination from another political party.

The pledge is a requirement to participate in the first Republican presidential debates in Milwaukee on Aug. 23.