On CBS’s Face The Nation, John Dickerson asked Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus about how the RNC would handle Republicans who ran for president this year and don’t support Trump, if they want to run again.
Priebus said, “people who agreed to support the nominee, that took part in our process—they used tools from the RNC—they agreed to support the nominee, they took part in our process. We’re a private party. We’re not a public entity. Those people need to get on board. And if they’re thinking they’re going to run again someday—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.”
Dickerson asked, “would the party itself penalize somebody who does not make good on the pledge that they made to support the party nominee?”
“I think that these are things that our party’s going to look at in the process,” replied Priebus. “And I think that people who gave us their word, used information from the RNC, should be on board.”
Dickerson followed up, “Governor John Kasich—so if he wants to run again, it seems like he might want to, he might be out of luck as far as the RNC goes?”
“People in our party are talking about what we’re going to do about this,” said Priebus. “I mean, there’s a ballot access issue in South Carolina. In order to be on the ballot in South Carolina, you actually have to pledge your support to the nominee, no matter who that person is. So what’s the penalty for that? It’s not a threat. It’s just a question that, we have a process in place. And if a private entity puts forward a process, and has agreement with the participants in that process, and those participants don’t follow through with the promises that they made in that process, what should a private party do about that, if those same people come around in four or eight years?”
Watch the full exchange here:
