Christie says no one has given him a loyalty pledge to sign

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Sunday he has yet to sign the party's loyalty pledge because no one has given it to him.

"I haven't been presented with the pledge yet," the former New Jersey governor said on ABC's "This Week," adding he thought the Republican National Committee was still verifying that he had enough donors to qualify for the event. But in answering the question Sunday, Christie did not say whether he would sign the pledge when he received it.

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said candidates who wish to take part in the first debate Aug. 23 in Milwaukee must sign a pledge to support the party's eventual presidential nominee in the general election. This has caused issues, as some Republicans including Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, have expressed reluctance about supporting former President Donald Trump should he be the party's nominee.

Speaking to host Jonathan Karl, Christie said, "I'm sure I'll be presented with the pledge at some point in the next week."

Trump has yet to commit to taking part in the debate, and last week he said he wouldn't sign such a pledge in an interview in which he criticized rivals Christie, Hutchinson and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by name. “I wouldn’t sign the pledge,” Trump said on Newsmax. “Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have?”

Christie said he was not surprised that Trump has neither committed to the debate or the pledge yet. "He plays misdirection all the time," he said.

Trump has been indicted three times in recent months and is expected to be indicted in Georgia as soon as this week. Karl asked Christie if he thought the pledge should include "a little caveat" that if the nominee is a convicted felon, the vow wouldn't apply any more.

"Who knows? Maybe it will, Jon. We'll see how it develops over the next week or so," he said.

Eight candidates have qualified for the Aug. 23 debate based on the RNC's polling and donor requirements: Trump, Christie, DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-.S.C), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Hutchinson has not, nor has Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

Another candidate who hasn't qualified, former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, on Sunday expressed reluctance to sign a pledge that would demand he support the eventual nominee.

"I'm not going to lie to get access to a microphone," he said on CNN's "State of the Union.