The Republican National Committee (RNC) thinks it has leverage to control GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s messaging if he were to be the party’s nominee heading into the general election, according to Politico.
“Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus has begun stating in private meetings that the party has sway over its at times unwelcome front-runner because it has tools Trump will need to use to win a general election — voter data and field, digital and media operations that a nominee typically inherits from the party infrastructure,” Politico’s Daniel Strauss reports.
Dangling access to these resources, Priebus thinks he can help steer Trump toward partywide policy goals and away from the inflammatory rhetoric that Republican officials see as divisive and dangerous, especially outside of the primary, according to two Republican sources who have spoken with the RNC chairman.
The RNC’s chief strategist and communications director Sean Spicer told Politico that it’s a relationship. “Every nominee — it doesn’t matter this cycle or last cycle — understands now that the role of parties is critical in terms of the manpower, the data, the press operation, the research. The bottom line is no nominee can win without the party.”