Donald Trump has chastised former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) for breaking their pledge to support the Republican nominee for president.His criticism is unwarranted.After taking the selfsame verbal pledge, in addition to affixing his signature on a written pledge, Trump repeatedly used his pledges as psychological bargaining chips to intimidate GOP leaders. After multiple hedges around his pledges, it became clear that those pledges were not enforceable.On April 3, just a few days before his pivotal Indiana victory, Trump told Fox News,“We’re going to have to see how I was treated. I’m going to have to see how I was treated. Very simple.”“It’s not a question of win or lose. It’s a question of treatment. I want to be treated fair,” he said.Trump has been treated more than fairly by the GOP, which has rules that favor a frontrunner disproportionate to their popular vote. Trump has won just 40 percent of popular votes cast; yet he has picked up some 54 percent of delegates. The party apparatus has been very kind to Trump, though he hasn’t returned the favor, continuing his long streak of offensive, vulgar and bizarre behavior unbefitting the leader of the free…
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