Republican presidential primary candidate Chris Christie is not happy with the RNC debate requirement that a loyalty pledge be signed. In order to get on the stage for the first Republican debate in August, candidates must meet a few requirements.

The requirements are pretty basic ones, if you ask me. They include reaching 1% in three national polls, receiving 40,000 unique donors to their campaign committee, and they must sign a pledge agreeing to support the eventual Republican nominee for president. I think that’s a low bar but at least two Republican candidates are squawking about the loyalty pledge.

Chris Christie spoke out on Sunday’s edition of State of the Union. CNN’s Jake Tapper interviewed Christie. During that interview Christie said, “Look, I think the pledge is just a useless idea.” Christie, remember, is solely in the race because he wants to deter Trump in an early state. Christie thinks he can do well enough in New Hampshire to throw Trump off his significant lead.in polling. He wants to be on the debate stage to take down Trump as many notches as he can with his take-no-prisoners style in debates. I still remember how he went after Marco Rubio in 2016. Will that strategy play in 2023? It remains to be seen. We are in a very different political atmosphere now than in 2016 when Republicans were looking for a street fighter like Trump who stood a chance against Hillary Clinton.

Christie is sounding very much like Trump already. During his town hall on CNN with Anderson Cooper, he repeatedly called Trump a loser and weak. He said he’ll take it to Trump because it is the only way to defeat him. So, it isn’t surprising that Christie may object to signing a pledge that would commit him to supporting Trump if he is successful in winning the GOP nomination.

The RNC isn’t backing down, at least not yet. Asa Hutchinson also has objected to the loyalty pledge. Hutchinson said it would be pledging support for a potential “convicted felon.” Welp. We know how much faith Hutchinson has in his candidacy, don’t we? He doesn’t stand a chance, of course, but shouldn’t a candidate at least pretend to be confident in himself and his ability to win? Hutchinson is not only admitting he thinks Trump will win the nomination but also that Trump will be convicted when he goes on trial for criminal charges in the documents case in Miami. Not a good look, Asa.

The RNC’s job is to work to unite the party when the primary winner is chosen. One way to do that is to have each candidate sign a pledge to support the nominee, as they have done in the past. Donald Trump held out in 2015. So far, Trump won’t even commit to participate in the first debate in August, much less sign a pledge. What if it turns out to be DeSantis? Trump is angry enough that DeSantis dares to challenge him. Trump is expecting a coronation. No one knows what will happen. Maybe Republican primary voters will make Trump the candidate. I think it would be a mistake but your mileage may vary. It’s time for a fresh face and new leadership, like DeSantis or Tim Scott.

Last week on CNN, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said the pledge is necessary. In the age of Trump it is necessary.

“Once it’s all done and the dust is settled and you’ve made your best case, if the voters choose someone else, then you need to get behind who the voters chose and make sure we beat Joe Biden,” McDaniel said Friday on CNN. “We can’t have division. We can’t have people who get on the debate stage who are going to come out and say, ‘I’m not going to support the eventual nominee.’”

Chris Christie knows he has no path to the nomination. But he can stir the pot and create some havok in early states. That’s his goal.

“In all my life, we never had to have Republican primary candidates take a pledge. You know, we were Republicans, and the idea is you’d support the Republican whether you won or whether you lost, and you didn’t have to ask somebody to sign something,” Christie said Sunday of the pledge.

“It’s only in the era of Donald Trump that you need somebody to sign something on a pledge. So I think it’s a bad idea,” he said.

The former New Jersey governor added Sunday that he voiced his disagreements over the pledge to RNC chief Ronna McDaniel, but said he will take the necessary steps in order to take the debate stage.

​​”I’ll take the pledge in 2024 just as seriously as Donald Trump took it in 2016,” Christie said, referring to Trump refusing to take a GOP pledge during the first 2016 debate.

It’s useless, in the end, because what is to stop a candidate to sign the pledge and then when the general election comes, not support the Republican candidate? It’s too late then. We know Trump won’t support anyone but himself, no matter the circumstances.

Polls don’t mean much at this point. Christie is making a little headway in New Hampshire, if some of the polls are to be believed. Christie is gaining ground in New Hampshire and DeSantis is losing support. Christie received 9% support in polling last week, coming within striking distance of DeSantis, who received 13% support.

It’s still early and things are just getting heated up. We’ll see how Christie’s plans work for him. For now, he is still begging for bucks in order to get 40,000 unique donors so he can get on the debate stage.