Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus on Sunday repeatedly said that Donald Trump has changed his position on banning Muslims from coming to the United States, even as CNN’s Jake Tapper pointed out that Trump’s position is confusing.
During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Tapper asked Priebus if Trump supports a complete ban on Muslims entering the country.
“No, uh, what Donald Trump… ” Priebus responded. “If you’ve seen the last few weeks, the position that he’s put on the table, the position papers on his website, what he’s been talking about is a temporary ban of immigration from countries that harbor and train terrorists until we get a better vetting system.”
The RNC chair added that Trump’s position aligns with bills in Congress and that Trump does not support a religious test.
But Tapper pointed out that Trump has not fully backed off his position. Although Trump has recently indicated that he’s altered the policy to now impact immigrants from “terrorist countries,” a Trump spokeswoman has also said that Trump has not changed his original proposal at all.
“That proposal that you just enumerated is different than what he said in December. And he has said that he has not backed off or changed his position,” Tapper told Priebus.
“No, no, no. He has pivoted to this position,” Priebus replied.
“That’s your interpretation, that’s not his interpretation,” Tapper hit back.
Priebus said that he’s seen Trump change his position in person.
“I agree that it seems like a pivot, or a change, but he says he hasn’t changed,” Tapper then said.
“No, he has said he has changed,” Priebus said in response. “And he has put the position on the table. And that is his position.”
Watch the exchange via CNN:
