Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley indicated she may not honor her pledge to support the Republican nominee this November.
Republican presidential candidates were required to sign the Republican National Committee's (RNC) pledge vowing to support the eventual party nominee in order to participate in primary debates.
Haley, who faces an uphill battle against former President Donald Trump throughout the remaining state primaries, suggested she may defect from supporting the Republican nominee during a Sunday appearance on NBC News' Meet the Press with host Kristen Welker.
Throughout the interview, Welker asked Haley if she would throw support behind Trump if he secured the Republican nomination, though Haley appeared to dodge the question.
"Given that we are so close to Super Tuesday, don't voters deserve to know where you stand on this very fundamental question of whether if ultimately you do not win, at the end of the day, would you support Donald Trump?" Welker asked.
Haley said she would respond to Welker's question if they asked Trump the same question.
"Right now, my focus is how do we touch as many voters," Haley said. "How do we win? I want the American people to see that you don't have to live this way."
Welker rephrased her question, noting Haley had signed the RNC's pledge last year and asked if she would abide by the terms this November.
“I have always said that I have serious concerns about Donald Trump,” Haley responded. “I have even more concerns about Joe Biden.”
The NBC host pressed Haley asking if she was still bound by her pledge with the RNC.
“The RNC pledge – I mean, at the time of the debate, we had to take it to where, ‘Would you support the nominee,’ and in order to get on that debate stage, you said yes,” Haley responded. “The RNC is now not the same RNC. Now, it’s Trump’s daughter-in-law.”
“So, you’re no longer bound by that pledge?” Welker pressed again.
“No, I think I’ll make what decision I want to make,” Haley said. “But that’s not something I’m thinking about."
"I think that while you all think about that, I’m looking at the fact that we had thousands of people in Virginia," she said of Super Tuesday. "We’re headed to North Carolina. We’re going to continue to go to Vermont and Maine and all these states to go and show people that there is a path forward. And so, I don’t look at 'what ifs.' I look at, ‘How do we continue the conversation?'”
Haley won her first primary in Washington, D.C. on Sunday leading, Trump by nearly 30 points.
Trump has secured 247 of the 1,215 delegates required for the Republican nomination compared to Haley's 43.
