Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, had some veiled warnings for primary candidates who have gone back on their pledge. In an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation program on Sunday, Priebus said that Republicans like Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush might want to reconsider their stance on Donald Trump. That is, if they were thinking of ever running for president again.

“Those people need to get on board,” Priebus said. “And if they’re thinking they’re going to run again some day, I think that we’re going to evaluate the nomination process and I don’t think it’s going to be that easy for them.”

Priebus stopped short of naming names, but the warning may as well have been stamped with Cruz and Bush on the side. Oh, and perhaps a little left over for John Kasich, whose campaign team has already made public comments about a 2020 run.

“People in our party are talking about what we’re going to do about this,” Priebus said Sunday. “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, but that’s just the question that we have a process in place.”

Priebus said it wouldn’t be fair to let these candidates break the pledge without consequences.

“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?” he asked.

Jeb Bush has made it clear that he’s not going to support Trump, and Kasich and Cruz have pretty much said the same thing. Kasich recently said it was “extremely unlikely” that he would vote for Trump. Cruz has been silent on the election for the last couple of months, but his dramatic refusal to endorse Trump at the Republican National Convention seemingly closed that door for good. It’s not yet clear if any of the three will be running for president again, but the odds are pretty good, especially for Kasich and Cruz.

Whether or not they’ll be welcomed back under the RNC banner, however, remains to be seen.

I wasn't too big of a fan of Priebus in the past, but this year he has really impressed me.

He's better, for sure.

As to Jeb running again??? Why? Does he wanna get trounced? Again?

It's a little early to be touting the rebirth of the RNC isn't it?

Good for him.

The problem with Cruz/Bush etc is they are too stupid and arrogant to understand the Establishment GOP is not wanted anymore.

They blew it.

Bush I can understand since he's dumbed down from too many years of being a spoiled rich kid. But Cruz I don't get since he's obviously intelligent. His ego is simply too big to handle rejection.

Kasich needs to be out of politics. The guy is a tax-n-spend liberal and a cuck.

Ol' booger eating Ted. Just what we need.

You're talking about the establishment GOP, you mean the guys that are backing Trump now?

The anti-establishment candidate?

So, was Cruz an establishment candidate or what?

Is being backed by the establishment good or not?

Can you point "up" for me?

Listen up and I'll tell you how it is. Nobody likes Cruz. Establishment...anti-establishment...nobody likes a lyin' booger eater.

Oh they can run if they want to run.
Just run as an independent, kill whoever is running as a Rep, there you go. These kind of threats are BS.

Well that's quaint low information bullshit, EE.

I'm trying to parse all the Trump being the non-politician candidate who is backed by the party politicians that everyone hated, but now they are eating it up because politicians are backing the non politician - who seems to not only want, but needs the support of the party politicians. Meanwhile, no one is able to really tell who exactly is a party politician.

You make it clear, as others do, that it was all about hating Cruz?

Don't complain about the state of things. Your part of the problem.

Not saying Cruz was the fix - he is not.

Just saying priorities are really [bleep] up.

its a calculated move on their part. Priebus doesn't mean schit in the bigger picture.

If Trump narrowly loses in November, Cruz, Kasich and Bush will be blamed for it

If Trump wins in November, Cruz, Kasich and Bush are now afterthoughts

If Trump wins and then goes on to have a very successful presidency, then its not just Cruz, Kasich and Bush, its the entire RNC that folds up and goes away.

The only real win scenario for them is if Trump gets blown out and Hillary wins in a landslide.

I still don't trust him. There is a lot to consider after the election. The viability of the GOP/RNC is on the line. Deservedly so.

Priebus is smelling the wind.

You asked somebody to smarten you up and I did. Too bad it didn't take.

--------------

Actually buddy, it may be the perfect time.

My thoughts, too. All that statement did is tell us which way the Priebus weathervane is pointing today.

Point taken, but I also need to note that I was a huge fan of Debbie Wasserman Shultz. I am not a praying man normally, but I said a little prayer for her everyday to keep her position at the DNC as long as possible.

Maybe be proof that prayers work.

Good to know that all the Trump fans are very happy with the thought of the RNC being able to choose the candidates in the future and keep undesirables out.

Very confused by it, but good to know where they stand.

i personally think they should be thrown out of the senate and the house if they can't get behind the peoples choice.

Maybe you don't favor accountability, but I like to see it applied and should be applied a lot more often.

Accountability as determined by the elites that Trump is going to clean out?

I need this explained more.

Preibus has the unenviable position of herding the cats that are the GOP names right now. Whereas the Dems will hold their noses, close ranks, and present a united front, the GOP are playing the Butt Hurt game.

The proper description of this butt hurt is petulence.

petulant: having or showing the attitude of people who become angry and annoyed when they do not get what they want

That sums up Cruz, Kaisich, Jeb and GHWB to a tee.

Real simple, the elites and other candidates made a pledge to support the eventual candidate and some are backing out on their pledge. Priebus is holding them accountable.

Understand now?

A HRC loss is going to require that BOTH the bulk of R voters as well as a big slice of I voters getting behind Trump.

It really isn't that difficult to understand IMO

Bush and Kasich can politely GFThemselves. Cruz will be fine either way.

Priebus IS THE ELITES that Trump was fighting against.

And Priebus is holding nobody accountable now. He's just saying there will be "rules" set up to prevent some undefined group of people from becoming candidates in the future.

Good thing none of you think this might apply to... say... somebody like Trump. Obviously there is NO chance it could ever be used by the the elites to close ranks on nominees to only allow their candidates in.

Yep. Can trust Priebus 100%. After all, he's a Trump kind of elite now.

GMAFB

No, it's the same as any other sycophantism from the beginning of time.

Priebus goes with Trump because its looking more like he may win, which is what anyone concerned about their gravy train should do.

Art of the deal.

Fealty to the king, etc etc.

And its perfectly sound. The RNC isn't there for the public's benefit.

It's not like they have a conscientious motive in their existence.

GMAFB? How about not putting words in my mouth. I never said I trusted anyone 100%. I said it is nice to see some accountability and there needs to be more no matter who it comes from.

That's it in a nut shell.

Ed

Or, in a nut shell, the RNC gets it's foot in the door for creating rules on who can and who can't be a candidate.

Betting Priebus really, really wishes somebody had created those rules a couple decades ago. Maybe one that requires Republican candidates to have been a registered Republican for 10 years or more? Maybe one that requires candidates to not have donated to Democrat candidates in the last 20 years?

So many possibilities that would have made Priebus's life much simpler this year.

I get that a lot of these guys are butt hurt about Trump beating them for the nomination, he certainly wasn't nice to some of them.

However, if someone can't see that the only thing that matters at this point in time is keeping Hillary out of the White House then they need to go away. The Obama presidency has nearly destroyed this country, a Clinton one will finish it. If they're willing to stand by & let that happen then they shouldn't ever hold office again.

The November election is a watershed moment on the Countries history.
If Clinton wins - its all over for a long time. The least of our problem is the short term is the RNC.
If Trump wins, by default he is the head of the GOP/RNC. Then its time for a wholesale clean-out of pointy headed elitists who are more concerned about being invited to the next garden party.

The 'nutshell' is that either candidate will be dogged by their voluminous issues which have them both struggling with negatives. I realize some people have a lot more confidence in Trump to be a good president than I do, but I believe, if he wins, that he will be plagued by one faux pax after another. Then it will be anyone's guess what happens in 2020....other than there will likely be a big meltdown in the GOP and we'll be looking at a surety in a Warren or Schumer presidency. I will go out on a sturdy limb to say that neither Trump nor Clinton will be players in the 2020 election.

That sounds nice and simple, but nominating a candidate who's greatest talent is screwing people has consequences. Luckily for us, they have one too.

Biggest problem with either party is allowing just anybody to run with just a few signatures as a vetting process. Party's have no obligation to anyone but their members, and in a national election to allow someone with just local recognition to run is a big mistake... Trump is a big mistake, not saying Hillary is much if any better, but allowing someone with nothing but TV show recognition, no political experience or knowledge and a really questionable past to take over the party... well can't really blame it all on Trump, the GOP has been heading this way ever since McCain/Palin and before. Right now I think its going to be a toss-up as to who will win the election, but with one caveat!

Hillary will stay about where she's at, but with Trump if he reverts back to his old antics and weird if not down right questionable behavior... he'll drop in the polls like a rock.

Phil

Good choice of words.

Because it would be nuts to blame anyone other than Trump for the outcome of this election. There's never been a candidate so flawed and vulnerable than the clinton creature and it gets worse for her by the day, and sometimes hour.

This is Trumps to lose and he's done a great job of that since day 1. Trump has had to recover from so many fiascoes of his making, that if only half of them would have occurred by now he's be up by 20%. Maybe more.

And if Cruz, Kasich and Bush are irrelevant, and I believe they are, what different, at this point, does it make what they think, do or say? Answer: Nothing. They are not even after thoughts now. They are totally out of the process, this time around and probably for all time.

Again, this is Trump's to lose and on his shoulders if he does. Period.

Hillary will stay about where she's at
-----------

And where is that?

I thought your vagina stopped hurting. Guess I was wrong.

Priebus has been on good behavior since May or so.

He should be more concerned about the Libertarian getting 5% of the vote. A Trump failure and Libertarian access to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund grant would be the end of the RNC.

It's OK. He knows about Bernie.

Of the libertarians I have seen recently, I guarantee the result of more exposure would be fewer votes.

if you want the team to support you, then you need to play for the team. Simple, really

yea, that's a great idea for the GOP

create rules that makes it easier for a Jeb Bush to win the nomination

Cruz owes Trump a punch in the nose instead of a vote of support. Then they can talk about the republican party.

cruz was a sneaky prik from day one.

Not at all. The high road always leads to good things. The low road..we'll see soon enough when the two on it collide.

Bingo.. let the RNC create rules that bar candidates and you'll end up choosing between Rubio, Jeb and Christie.

What's a cuck?

at this point trump is the best horse in the stable.

but that leaves johnson & Dr. Jill Stein as horseflies on hillary's arse.

anyone who professes to be Republican and doesn't support the Republican candidate needs to be expunged from the rolls.

next time, in 2020, we'll run the numbers yet again.

Trump fan's equivalent of liberals calling Tea Party folks Tea Baggers. A "cuck" is anybody who doesn't support Trump.

It's an Alinsky tactic.

no none will vote for Bush, Cruz or Kasuck anyway... at least not enough to allow them traction in 2020

You're an idiot.

Slightly more to it than this, but this is it in a nutshell:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cuckservative

A cuckservative is a self-styled "conservative" who will cravenly sell out and undermine his home country's people, culture, and national interest in order to win approval with parties hostile or indifferent to them.

"This cuckservative just spent 20 minutes trying to convince a group of communists that he really isn't as racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic as they said he was for supporting the free market. They didn't care."

So basically, Calhoun.

I liked Jeb Bush several years ago, but on the debates, he certainly came off like Luke-warm dishwater.

So.. in your opinion... I've been trying to win approval with Trump fans?

Special, aren't ya?

Seems simple, but it's not. You see, voting against somebody like Clinton is much easier than assuming any responsibility for somebody like Trump being elected.

Interesting.

The Johnson FTW!!

Don't get cute with me...you know exactly what I am talking about.

The bunch in the House and Senate who head things up and capitulated to every Obama orgasm. Bush and Cruz are all in that bed with them. Useless.

Of course Cruz is establishment. He and the others are exactly the reason there IS a Trump.

Dopes like you who continue to support dopes like them are the problem without a solution..Of course i was very happy to see Bush and Cruz get their establishment asses handed to them.

Are you so rock simple stupid that you never get tired of being lied to?

Never mind...I already know the answer.

Go away and don't bother me.

Prince can read sign, that's for sure.

I'm not sure what that means little fella, but when you vote against one person...you vote for the other. I'm not quite sure I'm willing to assume responsibility for what a narcissistic prick like Trump will do. It is quite the dilemma actually. Do I vote for a nut, or not at all? Obviously, nobody other than an enemy of America could vote for Clinton.

It was mostly a sarcastic response to the fact you don't want to take any responsibility with your voting. At least that's how your comment read.

"And then we come back and we cut off your johnson!" ~The Big Lebowski

One out of three RINOs is as stupid as the other two.

Not voting for Trump is effectively a vote for Clinton, so does that make you an enemy of America?

Here's a great article that shows why Kasich is a big government liberal and a cuck.
WSJ Article on Cucksick

Kasich on the ZeroCare Medicaid expansion:


You know what? [bleep] Kasich!

Whatever happens now is solely the responsibility of those who put us in this ridiculous position. Own it.

This.

When our country needs a leader worse than ever, we are left to choose from the clown pool.

I'll own it. I don't think we are in a ridiculous position. I am looking forward to a Trump presidency. It is about time we shake things ups and go a different direction.

This one isn't working very well. And before you retort that Trump won't be any different then I direct you to all the vitriol from the establishment. If I had any doubts about Trump the sheer fact that the establishment and media is against him I knew I found my candidate.

All these people bad mouthing Trump, I'd like to know who they'd rather have.

Me too.

That's a good post and I appreciate it. Too bad everybody doesn't act so grown up about it.

Very early on I was for Rand Paul and secondly Ted Cruz. I didn't dislike Trump, but of all running, I put him third after those two. The rest were a bunch of clowns that I'd have had a hard time voting for. As time wore on, I saw Paul seemingly attack Trump out of nowhere and Cruz show his true colors. So I got on the Trump train fairly early and he was my number one choice way before he won the nomination. I respect Paul for honoring his word. I wouldn't vote for Cruz to be the dogcatcher's assistant who picks up dog doo.

Yet you ignore the fact that Trump openly said he felt he was being mistreated by the RNC and would not honor his pledge.

Or are you just granting him latitude? And no one else..


Look, I would love for Trump to rip the RNC a new [bleep], as long as he doesn't leave a void that is filled to the point of a lock by liberals.

I was not ready to make that choice in a primary.

I'm left with no other choice now.

Actually, this thread was started about "bad mouthing" everybody BUT Trump, by those who believe Trump to be a great candidate. Trump is not a good candidate and Clinton is a terrible candidate. We'll deal with it, but pretending it isn't so is insane and won't make it any different.

"Who they'd rather have" is a moot point and water under the bridge. Time to work with what we got, and, at some point, there has to be an honest assessment of what that is.

I don't have an argument with anything you said. I liked Rand Paul in the beginning, but I didn't think Trump had a shot plus I didn't know much about him.

My wife is a Latina from Peru and she was a Trump supporter before I was. I probably should listen to her more.

This whole topic of who is and isn't endorsing whom is a colossal waste of time and a destructive distraction from our goal of defeating Hillary. Endorsements are grossly overrated. If they meant [bleep], Obama wouldn't have been elected twice, because everyone even slightly right of center, along with talk radio were all "endorsing" McCain and Romney in the last 2 election cycles.

Remember, the whole reason this whole endorsement "pledge" was even raised in the debates to begin with is because Trump repeatedly wavered on committing to endorse hypothetical Republican candidates if he wasn't the chosen one.

Obsessing over this stupid endorsement crap is playing into the Left's hands. They delight in "our side" bickering over this trivial [bleep]. At this point, nobody can sabotage Trump's chances of winning but Trump himself. There is only one person who can unite conservatives to fully support Trump and that one person is Donald Trump. Every so-called conservative voice who devotes a millisecond of time on this idiotic endorsement issue rather than Hillary's deplorable, disgraceful, and criminal history is only helping to undermine conservative unity behind Trump, and we're wasting valuable time, something that's in short supply. There's plenty of time to fret over "Endorsement-Gate" after the election.

Last I checked, Trump can use every vote he can get, and if he expects to have a chance of winning, he's gonna need votes from a helluva lot of folks who detest him yet detest Hillary much more. An anti-Hillary vote in the Trump column while one is holding his nose counts exactly the damn same as an enthusiastic vote FOR Trump. There's no space for an asterisk.

I think it's a great way to put an end to the political careers of some bad politicians.

How do you expect that to work?

Cool. There's plenty of time to make that case after November. Right now, both Trump and we conservatives had best keep our eyes on the ball and focus on the SCOTUS nominee, immigration, healthcare, taxation, and 2nd Amendment consequences of a Hildabeast presidency.

Dear Mr.Priebus,

Stop whining, grow a pair, man up.

Sincerely,

Phuoc Hughdude

Behind an 8 Ball!

Which TRUMP....will knock in a side pocket!!

He is saying exactly what I would say.

Give up the hatred, people! You're only guaranteeing a win for the liberals and at such a crucial time. Liberals have FUBAR-ed US virtually beyond repair.

If we want to fix our country WE have to do it by getting along, regardless of which guy is named Team Captain. If we continue to allow this to divide us, we will surely have a delusional hose-bag for our next president.

What Conservative candidates for House, Senate, and Governor is Mr. Trump campaigning for? What happens if Mr. Trump becomes President, and we lose the House and/or Senate? If Mr. Trump wins, are all of the Conservatives in the House and Senate now kicked out of the party due to him being the anti-establishment candidate? Can a lone wolf President save this country from falling into the abyss? If Conservatives are booted from the party, will there be a party left for Mr. Trump to lead in 2020? Will he unite the party, or is he the "anti-establishment" guy? Will he make deals with the dems to get his agenda thru Congress, or will he support the guys he crapped on to get the nomination? Fun times to be had by all, for sure. Yep, you guessed it. Rome is burning.

The real question is, how many Republican Senators and Representatives are campaigning for Trump?

He's the guy, he is the only guy that can stop Hillary, not some two bit RINO establishment POS

The article doesn't mention booting any conservatives.

That was my big question about Trump from the git go.

I'll have to vote for him to have a chance of finding out.

The upside is that there is a chance that he won't, especially when he has campaigned on preserving 2 A rights.

I think Trump will make some deals. Just like Reagan and every other president in history.

DD,

Bite the bag.

Deals with the Democrats will prolly be a lot easier than Deals with the Republicans.

They could not stop him from getting the nomination, if he is elected they will pull out all the stops and do whatever they can to make him as ineffective as possible

That may be, but I bet he brings his case to the media and really puts pressure on the RINOs. He is a master of the media and I bet he will win those battles.

So Priebus finally grew a set of balls?

Ball.

That might be true if the Media was actually a "news" agency and not an arm of the DNC.

Once he is elected, he will get little to NO free air time to plead his case to America, and the "Media" will prolly not cover his press conferences.

I understand your points, but not all media is MSM.

Who are these conservative republicans you speak of? Trump's appeal isn't that he's not conservative. And the establishment republicans are anything but conservative.

No, not all, but if you exclude "Talk Radio" then , yes all is MSM and all is an Arm of the DNC. Even Fox after Murdoch turned it over to his Liberal sons.

Not all.

Ted Cruz must have gotten the message!

When did dipschit go bald?