Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Monday accused the Republican National Committee of filling its Saturday debate with hostile donors and special interest groups, which the real estate mogul said was a violation of the loyalty agreement he signed with the party.
"The RNC better get its act together because you know, I signed a pledged, but the pledge isn't being honored by them," Trump told the crowd at a campaign rally in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, reported The Daily Caller. "I did well in the debate. A lot of people said I won that debate. But when I walked in, it was like, my wife was clapping, my kids were clapping, but the whole room was made up of special interests and donors, which is a disgrace from the RNC."
In September, after Trump hinted that he may run as an independent candidate should he fail to secure the party's nomination, he signed a loyalty pledge with the RNC vowing to support the nominee, reported Business Insider. There are no provisions in the pledge prohibiting the RNC from inviting certain people to the debates, however, Trump demanded that he be treated fairly in return for signing, and he suggested that the special interest groups were invited to the debate to make him look bad.
"I signed a pledge. The pledge isn't being honored by the RNC because those tickets were all special interest people," the billionaire real estate mogul claimed on Monday.
Trump was loudly booed on numerous occasions during Saturday's debate, which was hosted by CBS from Greenville, South Carolina, where the first-in-the-South primary will take place on Feb. 20. On the other hand, Florida Gov. Marco Rubio, who has been branded as the leading establishment candidate, along with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, also viewed as establishment candidates, received roaring applause after nearly every statement.
Trump said Monday that he personally knew many of the audience members that were booing him. "I know them. I'm looking in the audience. Some of them are friends of mine, and yet their booing me because they're having fun. The guy's booing me, and he's laughing and he's waving and going 'boo, boo' and he's waving at me. I'm saying, this is crazy. But I know many of these people: lobbyists and special interests," Trump said.
"And take a look, that was a wealthy room," Trump said. "Now, it started with young kids in the college case, the one previous because it was the same thing, although the last one was even worse. But what happened is some of the college kids sold their tickets to the special interest for good money, they made a couple of bucks, I don't blame them. But the RNC does a terrible job, a terrible job. And just remember what I said, remember in this room, I signed a pledge, but it's a double-edged pledge, and as far as I'm concerned, they're in default of their pledge when they do that."
Trump wasn't the only one to accuse the RNC of rigging the debates by stacking the audience with donors and special interests who heavily favor establishment candidates, rather than inviting people who represent the overall American or South Carolina electorate.
Rupert Murdoch, founder, chairman and CEO of News Corporation, which owns the conservative media outlet Fox News, tweeted just hours before the debate, "Tonight's audience in S.C. Probably rigged by party establishment. Repeating old tricks from previous elections."
Tonight's audience in S.C. Probably rigged by party establishment. Repeating old tricks from previous elections.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) February 13, 2016
Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who have both endorsed tea party favorite Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for president, were also critical of the debate audience, saying it was stacked to favor candidates like Rubio and Bush.
"I was a little disappointed in CBS and the moderators in that they kind of let the debate and the crowd get out of control," Duncan told Breitbart News.
"It doesn't represent the voters of South Carolina," Duncan said. "Definitely, the room was stacked for Rubio - there's no doubt about it, especially from where I was sitting. But look, I thought Ted Cruz had a great night and I thought he made a great point about the economy and about how he'd unleash an unbridled entrepreneurial spirit with less taxes and less regulation."
RNC spokesman Sean Spicer told Breitbart that of the 1,600 debate tickets, only 600 were given to the six campaigns, while state party and local officials got 550 tickets, the RNC got 367 tickets and 100 went to debate partners CBS news, the Peace Center and Google.
