Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Reince Priebus on Friday said he does not think Donald Trump will run as a third-party candidate should the billionaire business mogul lose the GOP nomination.
“I don’t think he’s going to do that. I think he knows that if you’re going to beat Hillary Clinton — if Hillary Clinton is going to get beat, there’s only one party that’s going to beat her: It’s the Republican Party,” Priebus said on Fox News’ “On The Record: With Greta Van Susteren.”
{mosads}Earlier Friday, Trump — who has surged to the top of the early Republican presidential polls — seemed to soften his tone against the RNC after telling The Hill on Wednesday that he would consider a third-party run if RNC leaders were unfair to him during the primary process.
“I want to run as a Republican. I think I’ll get the nomination,” Trump said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” earlier Friday.
Priebus said on Fox News that “any one of the sixteen candidates on our side know that the only individual that is going to beat Hillary Clinton is going to be a Republican if she’s going to get beat, if she’s going to be beat. Period. And everyone in America knows that’s true.”
Earlier this month, Priebus reportedly called Trump and asked him to tone down his rhetoric on immigration. RNC officials also released a public statement denouncing Trump’s comments about Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Saturday.
Trump had said that he didn’t think McCain was a war hero, but he immediately followed up by saying that he did think McCain was a war hero.
Trump has received an onslaught of criticism from the crowded Republican presidential field, including former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
Host Greta Van Susteren described Priebus’ job as a bit like “herding cats right now.”
“It’s a little bit like that, but then when you look at the polling and you see that Hillary Clinton is losing to candidates in key battleground states with her 100 percent name ID, I kind of like where we’re sitting,” Priebus answered.
He added that having so such a big field was ”a lot for our party to handle but it’s also a great opportunity.”
“I’m tired of the name-calling — from everybody — and I think it needs to stop from whatever source, from whatever place,” Priebus said of GOP infighting.