Christie calls GOP presidential debate pledge a 'useless idea'

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Sunday it was a "useless idea" to force 2024 GOP contenders to sign a pledge to back the party's ultimate nominee in order to participate in primary debates.

"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," the former New Jersey governor told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" about the Republican National Committee requirement.

Christie, who kicked off his presidential bid earlier this month, said he's expressed his views directly to RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, "so this is not the first time she's hearing it."

But he affirmed that he would do what was needed "to be up on the stage to try to save my party and save my country from going down the road of being led by three-time loser Donald Trump" - saying the former president cost the party the House in 2018 and the White House and Senate in 2020, and was responsible for "the worst midterm performance we have seen in a long, long time" in 2022.

"I'll take the pledge in 2024 just as seriously as Donald Trump took it in 2016," Christie said.

Trump, as a candidate in 2015, did not rule out an independent run for president at a debate in Cleveland. He ultimately signed a pledge to support the party's eventual nominee and to not run as a third-party candidate if he did not win the GOP nomination.

McDaniel has repeatedly supported requiring a so-called loyalty pledge for participation in the GOP debates, telling CNN on Friday it was a "no-brainer."