With each passing hour, it seems more and more likely that constitutional attorney David French, who is currently a staff writer for the Weekly Standard, will launch a conservative independent presidential bid in protest over Donald Trump winning the GOP nomination.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus took a dim view of those efforts Thursday morning during an interview with nationally syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt. Asked about his thoughts on a French candidacy, the GOP leader said those involved in the #NeverTrump campaign were now “embarrassing themselves.”
“I don’t really know him,” he said. “I think it’s a little bit of a—look, I don’t want to say anything disparaging against the guy because I don’t know him, and I’m sure he’s a good person, but I think it’s also just a sort of suicide mission and a huge distraction.
“I don’t see it going anywhere. I think in order to be a viable third-party candidate, I think you have to have national name ID and a ton of cash in order to get even a blip on the radar. So I don’t really even think about it, Hugh. I think it’s sort of silly, to tell you the truth. I have to say—I think the people involved with it are embarrassing themselves.”
Much of the interview instead focused on the Republican Party’s unification efforts. Priebus said those efforts were going quite well, in fact better than they did in 2012 when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the nominee.
“I don’t think it could be going any smoother,” he told Hewitt. “Now, you know, we have a lot more resources here than we used to have too, though. Four years ago, we had about four full-time people in Ohio, and today, we’re pushing 53.
“I mean, it’s just a different RNC. We’ve put over $100 million in data, and we have hundreds of thousands of people across the country. We didn’t have that four years ago. We do now. And I think the Trump campaign really appreciates that, and they’re working with us, and we’re raising money together.”
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