WH Spox: ‘Offensive Views’ Are ‘Priorities of Today’s Republican Party’

Friday at the White House press briefing, when press secretary Josh Earnest was asked about the controversy over Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump ignoring a town hall audience member suggesting President Barack Obama is Muslim, he used the opportunity to say he was not surprised, because “offensive views” are the “priorities of today’s Republican party.”

Earnest said, “Is anyone really surprised this happened at a Trump rally?  I don’t think anybody who has been paying attention to Republican politics is at all surprised. The reason for that is that the people who hold these offensive views are part of Mr. Trump’s base and Mr. Trump himself would be the first to tell you he’s got the biggest base of any Republican politician these days.”

He continued, “What is also unfortunate is Mr. Trump is not the first Republican politician to countenance these sort of views to win votes. In fact, that is precisely what every presidential candidate is doing when they do not denounce the cynical strategy of Donald Trump, because they want the same votes. Other Republicans have used the same strategy, and one Republican congressman told a reporter that he was David Duke without the baggage, and he was elected by a position to the third the ranking position in the House, and those same members of Congress blocked immigration reform, and those same members of Congress blocked re-authorization of The Voting Rights Act, and those same members of Congress could not support a simple funding bill, because they are eager to defend the confederate flag. So those are the priorities of today’s Republican party, and they will continue to be until somebody in the Republican party decides to summon the courage to stand up and change it.”