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Donald Trump on Thursday signed the Republican National Committee pledge saying he will support the Republican nominee — and therefore not run as an independent candidate — if he loses the GOP nod.
Trump, who spoke during a news conference at his New York City headquarters, was under pressure to sign the agreement because he might not be able to get on the ballot in some primary states if he didn’t.
The billionaire was his usual freewheeling, entertaining self, calling Jeb Bush “low energy,” as he usually does, and announcing that former Texas Gov. Rick Perry was getting out of the race. Perry, who is polling in the low single digits, soon appeared on Fox News to declare that he, in fact, was still in the race.
The most recent Monmouth University national poll shows Trump continuing to dominate the race, with hardly a challenger in sight. He is at 30 percent, a 4-point increase from early August, with his nearest rival, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, at only 18 percent.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has declined by 4 points to 8 percent, where he is tied with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Carly Fiorina, who has had somewhat of a boomlet as of late, is at 4 percent, tied with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and just behind Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who gets 5 percent of the vote.
But in a sign that Trump’s appeal is potentially not as broad as others’ in the race, he would lose a head-to-head matchup with Carson by 55-36 percent. Trump beats all other Republican candidates, but he is only seven points ahead of Ted Cruz, 48 percent to 41 percent. He wallops Jeb Bush by 56 percent to 37 percent.
Trump’s favorables have risen seven points in the last month, standing at 59 percent compared to 29 percent who view him unfavorably.