Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus still isn’t sure Hillary Clinton is running for president — but if she does, she’d be “exactly the person [he] would want, as a party chairman, to run against.”
The GOP bigwig made waves back in May by saying he “doubts very much” that Clinton will mount a campaign in 2016. And he repeated those doubts Tuesday during an interview with RCP’s Tom Bevan. (RELATED: RNC Chair Reince Priebus ‘Doubts Very Much’ Hillary Will Even Run).
“If we’re just talking here, I don’t particularly think she is going to run,” Priebus said, speculating that her time “at the highest levels of our government” should make her question if she “really wants to deal with the politics and the grind of the primary for the next two years.”
“And I don’t think she’s particularly good at it,” he added, noting the series of gaffes she suffered during what should have been a smooth book rollout earlier this summer.
But the RNC chair also said he’s not trying to talk her out of it. “If she does run, that would be exactly the person I would want, as a party chairman, to run against,” he said.
Priebus noted that Hillary Clinton is the best candidate to rally the base and pull in campaign dollars. “If your job is to raise money, unify the party, and work like crazy on the ground to get your candidate over the finish line, there is no better option for you than Hillary Clinton being the nominee,” he declared.
“I think her favorables are way too low for someone that’s supposed to be inevitable,” he continued. “I think that she’s exhibited an uncanny ability to make mistakes politically and she completely unifies the Republican Party.”
“And all I’m telling you is, politically, that’s not a bad place,” he concluded. “I actually would prefer it.”
WATCH (video via RCP):
[h/t Mediaite]