Donald Trump Abandons GOP Loyalty Pledge

This election season has delivered yet another oddity: a CNN town hall event featuring three Republicans who won't commit to supporting the Republican nominee. Donald Trump was the most direct when asked by Anderson Cooper whether he was sticking to his pledge "to support whoever the Republican nominee is." "No, I don't anymore," Trump said. It was harder for Cooper to get a straight answer out of Ted Cruz, reports Reuters, though he eventually said he is "not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family." Trump "is not going to be the GOP nominee," Cruz said. "We're going to beat him."

John Kasich also wouldn't commit to honoring the pledge. He said he was "disturbed" by some of what he's seen on the campaign trail and that the GOP candidates "shouldn't even have answered that question" last year when they were asked to rule out third-party bids. "I have to think about what my word and endorsement would mean," he said. "[I've] got to see what happens." Trump didn't seem perturbed by the prospect of not getting Cruz's vote. He "doesn't need to support me, I have tremendous support right now from the people," Trump told Cooper. "I don't really want him to do something he's not comfortable with." (More Election 2016 stories.)