Two GOP presidential candidates leave wiggle room in pledge to support nominee

Former Govs. Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson have both said they'll sign a Republican National Committee-issued pledge to support the party's presidential nominee — a requirement to participate in GOP presidential debates.

But the two candidates have also criticized former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail in ways that undercut that pledge, raising questions about whether they plan to follow through on the commitment and prompting a brushback from the national party.

“Individuals who are seeking the Republican nomination for president are being asked to respect the decision of Republican primary voters and support the eventual nominee they pick to beat Biden," Republican National Committee senior adviser Richard Walters told NBC News in a statement. "Candidates who are complaining about this to the press should seriously reconsider their priorities and whether they should even be running."

When Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, was asked about the pledge earlier this month during an interview with ABC News, he indicated he would sign it. But after saying earlier this year he'd never support Trump again (even if he won the nomination), Christie immediately suggested he wouldn't necessarily take the pledge seriously.

"I'll be on the debate stage, and I will take the pledge that the RNC puts in front of me just as seriously as Donald Trump did eight years ago," Christie said, saying that Trump "absolutely disregarded" the pledge in 2016 and faced no punishment.

During the first debate of the 2016 GOP nomination, Trump was the only candidate on the debate stage not to rule out the prospect of a third-party bid if he didn't secure the nomination.

He ultimately signed a pledge to support the party's nominee. But in February 2016, Trump called the Republican National Committee "in default on their pledge" before saying in March he didn't plan to abide by the pledge "anymore."

Hutchinson, who previously served as governor of Arkansas, suggested in early June that he would sign the RNC's pledge, telling NBC News' Vaughn Hillyard: "I will do what we need to do to get on the debate."

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But in a recent interview with Politico, Hutchinson closed the door on supporting Trump if he's convicted on charges related to his handling of classified information.

“I’m not going to vote for him if he’s a convicted felon,” he said. “If he’s convicted of espionage, I’m not going to vote for him.”

And Hutchinson has called on the RNC to add an addendum to its pledge that absolves signers from supporting a candidate "found guilty of espionage or a serious felony."

Neither Hutchinson’s nor Christie's campaigns commented about the RNC's position.

Both candidates, and their allies, are hustling to meet the RNC's other requirements to make the debate stage, which include hitting a polling threshold and raising money from at least 40,000 unique donors (including 200 donors from at least 20 states and territories).

A super PAC supporting Christie launched a recent ad telling voters to "donate today [to] get Christie on the debate stage," and Hutchinson tweeted a video last week of him making a similar ask.