RNC Chairman Reince Priebus on Donald Trump's Controversies: 'People Just Don't Care'

[jpak]

Source: NBC News

Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus defended Donald Trump on several morning shows Sunday, saying that campaign traditions don't apply to the presumptive GOP nominee.

Trump came under fire last week for refusing calls to release his tax returns, despite having indicated he was open to releasing the returns earlier in the campaign season. Voters, Trump told ABC's George Stephanopoulos Friday morning, are not entitled to review his returns before heading to the polls, and the tax rate he pays is "none of your business." Elsewhere, Trump insisted that not only was there nothing to learn from his taxes, but that the public wasn't interested.

Some, including former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, disagreed. Romney called Trump's refusal to release his returns "disqualifying." Trump would be the first major party candidate since 1976 to not release even one year of tax returns.

"I believe that the American people look at someone like Donald Trump and say, OK, here's a guy on the outside. Here's a guy that's never run for office," Priebus told ABC's Jonathan Karl Sunday. "And I just have to tell you, after a year of dealing with this primary, one on one —and you know it's been a lot —I don't think the traditional playbook applies, Jon. We've been down this road for a year. And it doesn't apply. He's rewritten the playbook."

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Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/rnc-chairman-reince-priebus-donald-trump-s-controversies-people-just-n574351

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meanwhile....

Clinton Controversies Drag On as Next Phase of Campaign Begins

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-13/clinton-enters-next-phase-of-campaign-dragging-controversies-with-her

Hillary Clinton is facing a convergence of controversies and questions, old and new, that are likely to drag through the Democratic nominating convention into the general election and offer Republicans a ready-made framework for attacks.

A Wall Street Journal report this week is bringing renewed scrutiny of the Clinton Global Initiative, founded by her husband, and raising questions about whether Clinton would be able to disengage from the tangled personal and business ties of former President Bill Clinton and the family's foundation. A Republican-led House committee is aiming to release its report on the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, in July, as both party conventions are getting underway. The FBI, meanwhile, is working to conclude an investigation into her use of a private e-mail server while she was secretary of state.

"This kind of stuff isn't going away any time soon, and I hope the campaign is going to move aggressively to deal with it in the most transparent way possible," said Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist and former top communications adviser to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

Clinton's style typically is to hunker down for as long as it takes for storms to pass, a stark contrast to presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. While he faces a challenge in trying to unify his party and defends his shifting stances on topics from foreign policy to taxes, Trump responds by sitting for back-to-back television interviews, staying on the offensive no matter the controversy.

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[sailfla]

1. I guess that shows his and the conservative movement for what they are

George Carlin " Ignorant citizens elect ignorant representatives"

We don't need another shooting war, we need a war on ignorance.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Idiot Republicans don't care. Intelligent Republicans & Independents are appalled.

Some intelligent Republicans have decided not to spit Trump out, but to swallow. Swallow their pride and principles too.

Others won't touch him or endorse him.




P.S. Start a second thread on your unrelated "meanwhile" topic. It's nuts to try to combine them, which is a move that a troll would be proud of. You aren't a troll, so don't blunder into appearing like one. Edit your post and start another thread.

[jpak]

3. Those showed up in the latest Google News almost side by side - I thought it was ironic

that the MSM can proclaim "No One Cares" when it comes to Trump's real controversies, but Hillary's GOP-witch-hunt-non-controversies "drag on"...

[Arkansas Granny]

4. Not only does the witch hunt drag on, some of those "controversies" they bring up are 30+

years old. But, we should just disregard Trump's lies and flip flops because "no one cares".

[wordpix]

23. agree. We need to rally around our presumptive nominee b/c

the repukes will otherwise tear her up with every lie and innuendo they can dig up about her past 50 yrs. I'm a Bernie voter but it's time to get Hillary's back.

[Arkansas Granny]

24. Thanks for that. It's going to take a combined effort to beat Trump.

[RKP5637]

27. I agree. I like Bernie too, but eventually we all need to come together if we are going to keep the

WH in 2016.

[nikto]

35. BOOM!! That's the major point here, IMO

The GOP's Primary weapon ...

[lastlib]

5. So what Rancid Penis is saying.....

IOKIYAR. We get to play by a different set of rules. GOP good, Dem bad.

No, F*ckstain. We ALL play by the rules. You insist on Dems playing by the rules (so do Dems), WE insist on YOU playing by the rules. Go rectally feed yourself, Rancid.

[rpannier]

6. The People who voted for him don't care

He is correct
And, that is the problem

[Andy823]

11. I agree

Those who voted for him don't care, and they will continue to follow him blindly, but may republicans won't, and they will stay home or possibly vote for Hillary. Many independents won't put up with his BS either, and the will do the same thing, not vote, or vote for Hillary. I think more independents will come around and actually vote for her because they know in their hearts that Trump is dangerous, and really isn't play with a full deck.

As for Democrats the vast majority will vote for Hillary. Yes some may sit this out like they have in the past for some insane reason or another, but they will be a minority, contrary to what we keep getting told here on DU.

[wordpix]

25. true, I speak with a 15 y.o. Trump supporter regularly and

he doesn't even follow the news except anecdotally and through some blog where he's got 450 followers. When I give him facts about Trump, this boy says it's funny. I have to point out to the boy why Trump's statements are wrong or not funny to Mexicans, women, people with disabilities, etc. Then the boy says, "Everyone just wants to be politically correct." He's swallowed the Trump line whole and he just doesn't care. He gets most of his info from his rabidly pro-Trump crazy close relative.

[Augiedog]

7. The real problem with Trumps lies isn't that "People don't care..." It's that he, Trump, doesn't

care that he is lying. That his accolytes blindly believe him and drool at his feet is not surprising considering the resentment abounding in society today at the failed republican economic policies. But his own conscience seems immune to what he knows are lies in his rush to become the next President of the United States. It seems he sees us, the American public, as a toy to which he can act at will, destroy or just torment as if a cat with a mouse. Or just plain old losers to be fired in a petulant whim.

[maindawg]

21. Exactly right

They already dwell in an alternate universe devoid of facts. So the Trump universe is acceptable even if he is a liberal..........uhu

[wordpix]

26. he does appear to live in some alternate universe just for him

Where he can do or say anything and there are no repercussions to his bad behavior. The female engineer who worked for him on Trump Tower said he changed around the time of Marla Maples for the worse.

[MrScorpio]

8. RNC PR BS is living up to his acronym once again. nt

[MariaThinks]

9. we care you self obsessed ass

[wordpix]

31. I think the penis was referring to Trump's followers

and actually, they don't care that Trump's a pompous ass charlatan who isn't fit to be president. They think he's funny and also correct in his thinking, whatever that is b/c it's all over the place. But again, his followers don't care. "Daddy, take care of me," is their psychosis.

[SunSeeker]

10. Wishful thinking, Reince. nt

[AngryOldDem]

12. Well, Reince, that's why YOU have to.

Jesus. SOMEONE needs to be the grown-up in this shitshow.

[tanyev]

13. Reince, spin, repeat.

[wordpix]

28. DUZY!

[BootinUp]

14. Rinse is wording that wrong, its Republicans that don't care. nt

[truthisfreedom]

15. Once again. Prince Priebus presumed to tell the good people

Of America what we think. He's just a worthless turd. His opinion is worse than useless.

[Odin2005]

16. He's right, Authoritarians automatically ignore anything that makes their Dear Leader look bad.

As seen with the Clinton supporters here.

[bemildred]

17. The public has been dumbed down and fed TV for decades.

What else should we expect?

[libdem4life]

18. Trump hasn't shrouded himself in secrecy. He's pretty much already vetted himself.

Clinton, OTOH, chooses secrecy, which leads to guessing, which leads back to trustworthiness, which leads to....hmmm.

IMO, that's how Trump gets away with it. He's in your face with a "So what?" Kind of like, Please, proceed. No tug of war without two tugging. That's where HRC is at her best...struggle and fighting and secrecy.

It will be an event-filled piece of American History.

Disclaimer: I'm not under any circumstances voting for Trump...just in case this post is misunderstood.

[wordpix]

29. I would be secretive, too, if I had the repuke criminals after me

People like Issa and the Benghazi Congressional investigative gang. I heard a pundit say this whole email thing grew out of repuke frustration that they couldn't pin any wrongdoing on Hillary b/c the problem was systemic including a repuke Congress that cut the budget for US embassy security overseas.

So it's very possible this secret email thing either had a good reason behind it, like Hillary not trusting potential Repug eavesdropping, or maybe it's a made up repugnican charade of a witch hunt.

[anigbrowl]

34. Yeah, that's why you can't read his tax returns

[Feeling the Bern]

19. When Rinse Penis talks, urine comes out of his mouth.

[Shoonra]

20. Remember how Reagan was the Teflon candidate?

Somehow nothing stuck to Reagan, no matter how stupid or even criminal the scandal, the voters just didn't let it pull Reagan down in the polls. And the same magic seems to be working for Trump. Maybe it involves selling one's soul to Satan, I don't know.

In the meantime, we DU readers have been patting ourselves on the back for having done all our homework so we know (1) that all that fuss over the e-mails shouldn't bring Hillary down, (2) ditto for Benghazi, and (3) all the shameful and embarrassing things that Trump has done and said over the decades.

Well, stop patting yourself on the back, and start knocking on doors and passing out leaflets and so forths, because if we persist in sitting back all smug that we know that Trump doesn't deserve to be President then on Election Day someone undeserving is gonna win.

[Imajika]

22. Sadly, I think he is more correct than we'd like to believe...

Heck, I think he is more right Reince Priebus ever believed. These big shots at the RNC wanted nothing to do with Trump and were sure, like the rest of (be honest), that Trump was a joke that would flame out.

People just don't hold Trump to the same standards they do other people. Maybe it is because we live in this RealityTV idiocracy, but people give his Orangeness a pass on things they'd never let anyone else get away with.

It's started with right wingers, but once people kind of accept the idea of Donald Trump as President, they tend to simply not care about the offensive, stupid and downright dangerous statements he makes. They just brush it off with an "oh, that's just Donald being Donald, nothing to get excited about". He's like a car wreck, a scary number of people increasingly WANT to see what he will do and say next. Never mind that Trump lies, exaggerates, bullies, etc. It's just "the Donald being the Donald".

I am going to hope there are enough sane people left in this country to prevent him from every being President, but honestly, I am not so sure anymore. I am beginning to believe that he can win, and maybe even by a surprising margin.

[wordpix]

30. "Realty TV idiocracy"---DUZY of the decade

Seriously, why are the Kardashians and Trumps so GD rich? Because they're reality TV stars and models. That's it. End of subject.

But models of what?

[randr]

32. Sums up the GOP--The Don't Care Party

Don't care about climate change
Don't care about health care
Don't care about education
Don't care about clean water or air
Don't care about the truth when presented with it
Don't care about refugees political or economic
Don't care about Americas' infrastructure
Don't care about the countless thousands of Americans who sacrificed their lives in their countless wars
Don't care about women or their children
Don't care about anyone who may be or think differently
etc, etc, etc, the list goes on and on
Their is one group of people who do not heed a word of the "Pledge of Allegiance" or follow their very own sacred rule; the "Golden Rule" as they like to call it.
They love to sing how their "God crowns our good with brotherhood" without listening to themselves

[Zambero]

33. In other words, those "values" no longer matter

As long as you're an "outsider" you will get a free pass.

[nikto]

36. GOP character