Former South Carolina Gov. and Rep. Mark Sanford (R) on Thursday slammed Donald Trump over his stated refusal to sign a “loyalty pledge,” but he acknowledged that the former president’s stance will likely resonate with his supporters.
Sanford during an appearance on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” was responding to Trump’s comments Wednesday night in which he said he wouldn’t sign a pledge to support the Republican candidate in 2024.
"I wouldn't sign the pledge. Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn't have?" Trump said Wednesday during an appearance on Newsmax with Eric Bolling.
"I can name three or four people that I wouldn't support for president. So right there, there's a problem."
“What does it actually say about the power balance between Donald Trump and the RNC?” guest host John Berman asked Sanford.
“It says absolutely nothing. It says that the RNC has a document that they're gonna try to get a bunch of folks to sign and at the end and that he's not going to sign it,” Sanford said.
“It says he's the giant horse in this particular parade and he's going to do what he wants to do. But that's no surprise because Donald Trump does exactly what he wants to do. And it's always about him, it's not about party ideals.”
“Does the structure of the party have any power over him right now?” Berman asked.
“No, not at all,” Sanford said.
“This is the pure genius of Donald Trump. I mean, they're fake documents. I've been to I don't know how many unity dinners over the years where after the election, everybody says the most horrible things about one another and then the day after they're supposedly blood brothers, we're gonna advance together."
He added:
“His fans will say, you know, ‘this is what I love about Donald Trump, he's telling the truth.’ Rather than be one of these fake politicians that loves the guy the day after, when in fact he really doesn't love that other him or her as a candidate, I think it says that, so it resonates with his base as being a ‘truthful’ politician.”
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Sanford added that Trump’s comments also show “how sort of worthless these documents are. I mean, the fact is (Chris) Christie, he's saying, ‘I'm gonna sign it, but then I'll ignore it after I sign it.’ I mean, they have little value.”
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