Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus spoke to the Journal Sentinel Wednesday about the state of the 2016 race, where he was asked about those appalled by the some of the rhetoric whether it was “what was on Twitter last night” or at some of the debates.
“I believe that family members should be left out of the conversation,” Priebus said, appearing to refer to the recent insults hurled at Donald Trump’s and Ted Cruz’s wives. “And I do think that overall some of these things are not helpful.”
In recent days, the GOP campaign has been dominated by an escalating back-and-forth between the Trump and Cruz campaigns about their respective wives, Melania Trump and Heidi Cruz, respectively. It all started when an anti-Trump PAC ran an ad featuring Melania modeling nude. Trump blamed the ad on Cruz in a tweet Tuesday night where he threatened to “spill the beans” on Heidi. Trump also retweeted a meme mocking Heidi’s appearance. Cruz, meanwhile, called Trump a “sniveling coward” for attacking his wife.
In the interview, which was posted Saturday ahead of Wisconsin’s GOP primary next month, Priebus dismissed concerns that Trump was a danger to his party.
“I don’t think any one person in three months as our nominee can alter direction of a party that’s been around for 160 years. I think it’s a lot of hype,” Priebus said.
