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Donald Trump Threatens Third Party Run If Cruz Wins GOP, Says RNC Violated ‘Mistreatment Loophole’ In Party Pledge

By Tara West
Published on: 04:08 PST, Feb 18, 2016

The controversial Republican presidential candidate and business mogul, Donald Trump, is threatening the GOP with a third party run if they don’t stop “mistreating” him. Trump says that the party pledge he signed back in September of 2015 is no longer valid, as the Republican National Convention (RNC) has not held up their end of the deal. According to an “exception” Trump added to his RNC pledge, if the Republicans “mistreated” him during the election, the pledge would become invalid. Trump is now using that loophole to claim his pledge is no longer binding and that he may run as a third party if the “liar,” Ted Cruz, wins the GOP nomination.

The State reports that during a news conference, Trump has backed down from his RNC pledge, noting that the pledge is a “double-edged pledge” and the RNC is not keeping their end of the bargain. Therefore, Donald Trump says he is no longer bound by that pledge indicating that a third-party run is possible should he not win the GOP nomination. In fact, Trump stated plainly for those in attendance to “remember what I said, remember in this room” that the RNC has defaulted on their pledge to be “fair” and not “mistreat” Trump during his campaign.

“Remember what I said, remember in this room. I signed a pledge, but it is a double-edged pledge. And as far as I am concerned, they [the RNC] is in default of their pledge.”

Trump’s threat to run as a third-party comes as he claims the RNC filled the last Republican debate with special interests groups, which put the businessman at a disadvantage. He claims that he “warned” the RNC “twice” about the problem, but they didn’t listen.

“We have warned them twice and they don’t listen. The bottom line is that the RNC is controlled by the establishment and the RNC is controlled by the special interests and the donors. And that’s too bad. That’s why the Republicans for president has lost so much for so long.”

Trump has claimed the cards were stacked against him at the debate as a strategic play to undermine him and support Cruz by the RNC. Therefore, he says he is no longer bound by his loyalty pledge to the RNC, and he is open to running as a third party. In addition to complaints over the debate attendees being “stacked against him,” Trump is also claiming that the RNC should have forced opponent Ted Cruz to pull “attack ads” being aired on television. The ads feature Trump in various interviews in the past that feature the businessman saying he is “very pro-choice” and that he would not ban partial-birth abortions if he were president.

The third party threat and heightened battle between Cruz and Trump comes shortly after Ted Cruz claimed he was the “new national front runner.” The bold claims by Cruz came after a single poll by the Wall Street Journal placed Cruz ahead of Trump by two points for the first time since November. Cruz called this a huge victory and began branding himself the “new front runner.” However, Trump laughed off Cruz’s claims, as every other poll shows Trump with a commanding double-digit lead over his opponent.

Though Cruz’s “lead” of two points in the Wall Street Journal poll has given the Senator something to brag about in his campaign, the CBS, Quinnipiac University, and USA Today polls show Trump with a commanding lead over Cruz.

What do you think of Donald Trump’s threats to run as a third-party candidate? Would a Trump third party run spell the end for the Republican party and hand the presidency over to Hillary or Bernie?

[Photo by John Bazemore/AP Photo]

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