Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Sunday that his party’s nominee knows that he must inject a little “humanity” into his rhetoric if he hopes to win the presidency.
MSNBC host Chuck Todd asked Priebus if Donald Trump had recently somewhat moderated his tone on immigration because he realized Latino voters may be put off by his calls to deport undocumented immigrants en masse.
“What I think is that Donald Trump understands that with every position that is taken and as you get closer to the White House, a degree of humanity and decency is part of every decision that needs to be made,” the RNC chair replied.
“And I know Donald Trump. I know Donald Trump in private, I talk to him every day,” Priebus continued. “I know what he’s thinking about a lot of these issues and this is a good and decent man that wants to do the right thing and wants to take every position that he’s talking about and pepper it with decency, dignity and humanity.”
Trump and his staffers’ contradictory claims about his immigration policies have sowed confusion over the past two weeks. As of late August he still planned to deport millions of immigrants living without papers and build a wall on the US-Mexico border.
Though Priebus said he is in daily communication with Trump, he declined to clarify the details of the Republican nominee’s plan.
“You’re going to have to ask him,” Priebus said, when asked if Trump still planned to end birthright citizenship.
Trump is scheduled to give his much-anticipated address on immigration in Arizona on Wednesday.
