The very first question of the very first Republican debate back in August was whether the Republican field—then 17 deep—would promise not to run as independents in the general election.
The question was aimed squarely at Trump, at the time an amusing curiosity in a field of Serious, Viable Candidates, and he was the only one to equivocate in his answer. Seven months later, Fox News moderator Bret Baier asked the question again, but this time it was Trump comfortably atop the polls and cruising towards the nomination. The remaining candidates on stage—who have openly begun plotting ways to derail Trump’s campaign at a brokered convention—all pledged to support the Republican nominee, even if that nominee is ultimately Trump.