Rubio, Cruz, Kasich pledge to back GOP nominee, 'even if the nominee is Donald J. Trump'
The final question at the Fox News debate on Thursday night was whether Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich would pledge to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee, "even if the nominee is Donald J. Trump." None of the three was willing to join the #NeverTrump movement, each saying he would support Trump, for slightly different reasons. Rubio said Trump would be preferable to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, Cruz said that he is a man of his word and he'd already pledged to support the nominee, and Kasich started out with a joke: "I sort of think, when all is said and done, I will be the nominee." But he would back Trump, even though "sometimes he makes it a little bit hard."
When Chris Wallace asked Trump if he'd back the GOP nominee if it weren't him, he initially scoffed at the idea that he wouldn't get the nod. Eventually, he said that yes, he would back Rubio, Trump, or Kasich. Just after the debate, he hedged a bit with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, telling him, "I don't want to run as an independent," and that the Republican Party had been pretty good to him.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Who is fuelling the flames of antisemitism in Australia?Today’s Big Question Deadly Bondi Beach attack the result of ‘permissive environment’ where warning signs were ‘too often left unchecked’
-
Bulgaria is the latest government to fall amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Sudoku hard: December 15, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
