Sunday on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” discussing the voters choice in 2016 presidential election between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said, “This election is about choice, is you have someone who is not politically correct, who at times has said some harsh things, even he admitted, versus someone who lies with incredible skill and grace.”
Partial transcript as follows:
DICKERSON: Mr. Chairman, you heard those voters there. They were on the Trump train. They have now gotten off. What would you advise Mr. Trump, having heard that?
REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Well, I think that keep doing what he’s been doing over the last 10 days, which is, I think he’s shown maturity. I think that he’s growing in his role. He’s a person who has never run for public office. And, look, some of this stuff was very — it’s an interesting intro that you had there, because you have got a choice in this election. This election is about choice, is you have someone who is not politically correct, who at times has said some harsh things, even he admitted, vs. someone who lies with incredible skill and grace. And so the question is whether or not in the fall, making the case of the American people that the outsider, which is what the American people want — they want that outsider. They want that product that Donald Trump presents, not Hillary Clinton. But they also need to know that it’s going to be a safe product. And I think if you look at the last week-and-a-half, I think Donald Trump understands it. I think he’s being consistent. I think if he continues down this track, you’re going to see more polls like Iowa happening, where things tighten down, we get to the first debate and America is given that great choice.
DICKERSON: They want a safe product. What he doing to make people feel safe? Using a teleprompter and saying regret, that doesn’t contain safe.
PRIEBUS: No, listen, what — no, what it shows is consistency. Look it, it’s very difficult. I don’t care how good you are as a speaker. Now, I have been doing this for six years. Other people like Hillary Clinton has been doing it for 30 years. You can’t — it’s very difficult to get in front of a crowd with no notes and speak for 45 minutes. And so…
DICKERSON: But that’s what caused him to do so well in the primaries.
PRIEBUS: It id. But we also had 16 people running. And there was a lot of things happening. But, look, what I’m excited about is the fact that I think that Donald Trump has really focused in on this campaign. And you look at the differences between Hillary Clinton, who we’re talking about DOJ not taking action after the FBI asked them to in investigating the Clinton Foundation. You have someone whose public persona is cast in stone. I believe that Donald Trump’s upside is far greater than Hillary Clinton’s upside.
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