Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus made the case that the GOP has become a diverse party built on the values of equality and opportunity in remarks to the press in Alexandria, Virginia.
Priebus stumped outside the El Paso Authentic Mexican Restaurant alongside several Hispanic GOP candidates running for office in Virginia, and said he heard “loud and clear” that the Latino community does not have only one opinion about who should lead the party.
“What I’m hearing from community leaders is that there’s great diversity about what we ought to do about immigration and diversity of opinion on who would be the best candidate for the Republican Party,” Priebus told reporters. “We have a massive effort in Hispanic engagement and Hispanic outreach and it’s full-time. … My message is that we’re going to have a Republican Party that tries to saturate Hispanic communities.”
Priebus said he did not believe the Republican Party could win the White House without securing Virginia and said he was intent on building a sustainable party capable of winning presidential elections — not just midterm elections.
He discussed his goal of building a more inclusive GOP and largely dismissed questions about Trump’s impact on Hispanic engagement. When asked about GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson’s comment that he would not support a Muslim presidential candidate to lead the country, Priebus did not criticize Carson and sought to avoid the controversy.
“I just look at the Constitution. It’s pretty clear on who can run for president, who can be president,” Priebus said. “I think the doctor has worked hard at clarifying the comments, but I’m not going to get in the middle of the debate. … I think he’s done quite a bit to clarify that [remark] but I look to the Constitution for my answers.”
GOP staffers at the event appeared eager to broaden the party’s outreach into Virginia’s Latino community. Republican Party spokeswoman Ali Pardo told the Washington Examiner that the Republican Party’s efforts in Virginia were indicative of the groundwork it has worked to build nationwide as it looks to 2016 and beyond.
