In Thursday’s debate, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich all ripped into Donald Trump. But then, in response to a question, they all agreed that if he gets the Republican nomination, they would support him.
That made me lose respect for all of these candidates. If their criticisms of Trump are true–that he is a genuinely bad man and would make a terrible president–how could they ever support him?
Since when should loyalty to a political party trump (sorry) loyalty to one’s country? Or to one’s principles?
I suppose they felt bound by their pledge in the very first debate to support the eventual nominee, which everyone but Trump–who was at the time a very unlikely winner–agreed to! But still, as it says somewhere in the Lutheran confessions, immoral vows are not binding.
I stand with Ben Sasse on this issue. (Read his open letter on why he would rather break from the Republican party than support a Trump candidacy.) What about you?
From Rivals rip Trump but promise support if he is the nominee | Reuters:
Chief rivals to U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump assailed him for shifting positions on the issues at a debate, but said in the end they would reluctantly support him if he were their party’s nominee.
Under questioning by Fox News Channel moderators on Thursday, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich made the promise despite efforts by party elders to build an anti-Trump coalition of Republican voters to pick someone other than the incendiary New York billionaire.
Hours earlier 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney in a speech blasted Trump, a former reality TV show host, as an unelectable fraud whose nomination would ensure victory for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama.
Tempers escalated quickly at the two-hour debate and, as in previous encounters, the battle descended into schoolyard taunts between Trump, Rubio and Cruz with accusations of lying and even a reference to male genitalia.
While Trump’s three rivals followed party dogma, insisting they would set aside their concerns and rally around the ultimate nominee, they said they did so reluctantly if Trump were to emerge as the candidate for the general election.
[Keep reading. . .]
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