Priebus: message to dissenters
Priebus was speaking Sunday on the CBS political interview show Face the Nation when he told host John Dickerson that if Ted Cruz and John Kasich, who both ran and lost against Trump in the primaries and have not endorsed him, do not support the GOP nominee then things won’t be “easy for them.”
“Those people need to get on board,” Priebus said. “And if they’re thinking they’re going to run again someday, you know, I think we’re going to evaluate the process of the nomination process, and I don’t think it’s going to be that easy for them.”
If that was not enough of a threat to members of the GOP who have not endorsed Trump — and there are many — then his follow-up statements were. “I think these are things that our party’s going to look at in the process,” he said when Dickerson asked about discipline. “And I think that people who gave us their word, used information from the RNC, should be on board.”
During the primaries Trump made fun of how Ted Cruz’ wife, Heidi Cruz, looked by posting a meme of her making an odd expression next to one of his wife, Melania Trump, a former model, looking beautiful; it included the caption: ‘the images are worth a thousand words.’ Cruz has said Trump is a “pathological liar” and unfit for the presidency.
Officials condemn Trump
During the interview, Priebus supported Trump’s bizarre allegations that Hillary Clinton began the birther movement, Trump’s most widely debunked claim of the campaign and one for which there is no evidence whatever.
Trump was the de facto leader of the movement that claimed Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. and many, Clinton included, have criticized him for trying to besmirch the reputation of the country’s first African-American leader with falsehoods.
Cruz and Kasich are not the only Republican officials who have declined to endorse Trump. In August, 50 high-ranking GOP national security officials, many who have served in the administration of past Republican presidents, signed a letter condemning the billionaire.
The letter from the senior officials said that Trump “lacks the character, values and experience” to be president and would “put at risk our country’s national security and well-being.” They said “none of us will vote for Donald Trump.”
Other high-ranking Republicans have joined them in saying they will not vote for Trump, including Robert Gates and the 92-year-old former president, George H.W. Bush.
To date there’s been no response from Cruz or Kasich to Priebus’ threat.
