Reince Priebus: Trump’s Win ‘Probably Good’ For Republican Party
Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee chairman has a tough job ahead of him after a contentious and bitter primary season: uniting the Republican Party behind Donald Trump.
Priebus himself said he never expected Trump to become the Republican nominee, but in a candid interview today, the RNC chair admitted that Donald Trump’s victory was probably a good thing for the party. After Trump and Cruz savaged each other in the media, tossing vicious personal insults back and forth at one another, the fight is over and Priebus sets about clearing the debris ahead of the general election.
“You know what, I think something different and new is probably good for our party. Look, I don’t think anyone predicted what happened. So look, we’re here. We’re going to get behind the presumptive nominee,” said RNC Chair Reince Priebus in an interview with CNN this morning.
GOP Chairman Reince Priebus says the party will unify before Cleveland convention https://t.co/gwgOULIWeb
— TIME (@TIME) May 4, 2016
Donald Trump scored a resounding victory against opponents Ted Cruz and John Kasich in last night’s Indiana primary, crushing the opposition’s hopes that a contested convention this summer might prevent Trump from securing the Republican presidential nomination. The Trump campaign had an insurmountable delegate lead over rivals Cruz and Kasich, and as of this morning, Trump is the last man standing on the Republican side – a state of affairs predicted by Reince Priebus last night.
“I was surprised, and it’s a hard thing to do. I mean [Cruz] ran a very, very serious operation. Just an incredible ground game. His delegate operation was unbelievable, and I was surprised. But now, you know, you’d have to say that it’s pretty obvious that Donald Trump is going to get to 1,237. But he’s got to do it though,” Priebus said last night.
That was, of course, before John Kasich dropped out of the race earlier today, leaving Donald Trump as the Republican nominee. Priebus had always been doubtful that there would be a contested convention this summer, with a “white knight” candidate swooping in to save the Republican establishment from an outsider candidate like Donald Trump. Now, Priebus is left to pick up the pieces of a party that has been fractured by a contentious primary race.
According to Politico, figures in the Republican party are refusing to get in line behind Donald Trump, calling it a “dangerous time” in the Republican party, but Reince is already pushing the party to set aside their differences ahead of what will be an unmistakably bitter and hard fought general election – the Republican party needs to rally around Trump, Priebus says, unity is going to be the key going forward.
GOP Chairman Reince Priebus says, "It will take some time" to unify behind Donald Trump https://t.co/KkT55b3KFa pic.twitter.com/NDesMYbaMO
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 4, 2016
“It will take some time. This was a very contentious battle. It’s not easy when you have 17 candidates and people’s second and third choices didn’t win,” Reince Priebus told CNN this morning.
Priebus had previously fought with Donald Trump on Twitter, and numerous times throughout the Republican primary he tried to rein in some of Trump’s fiery rhetoric and statements which — at times — seemed to contradict the Republican Party’s overall platform. But those days are over, Priebus says, Trump is the Republican nominee and the party platform won’t change to suit Trump.
“[Trump’s] joining the party, the candidates join us we don’t join the candidates. So our party platform is clear, the things we believe in are clear. We don’t change what we believe in as a party,” said Reince Priebus this morning.
Before Ohio Governor John Kasich dropped out of the race earlier today, Priebus addressed the issue of his continuing campaign.
“I’m not going to tell him to get out or stay in. But we, in the meantime, are going to come together, we need to start doing things to raise more money, to get more boots on the ground,” RNC Chair Reince Priebus said this morning.
[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]
