Political strategist and former chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Donna Brazile clashed with former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on Sunday as he tried to defend former President Donald Trump’s record while discussing his campaign messaging.
The two political figures appeared on ABC News’ “This Week” to discuss Republicans’ internal conflict over Trump’s messaging against Harris as some want Trump to focus on policy rather than personal attacks. As Priebus tried to discuss how Trump is faring in the election and appealing to voters on key issues, Brazile interrupted, stating that voters don’t want a president “who basically divides us.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Wiles, LaCivita Are Still Calling Shots At Trump Campaign, Sources Say)
“Well, look, I don’t disagree with some of those folks in that — number one, if this election comes down to the economy and the border, Trump wins. Right now, Kamala Harris is trying to reinvent herself into something she’s not,” Priebus stated before ABC host Martha Raddatz interrupted.
As Raddatz asked Priebus to focus on Trump, Brazile jumped in the conversation to make a comment about the election. The former White House chief of staff continued to state that Trump represents “a huge middle finger to a lot of people,” and argued that voters are still upset over the economy and inflation under the Biden administration.
“The thing is with Trump, you can’t also, to win this election, you can’t divorce yourself of who Donald Trump is and his personality. Like I’ve said before, there’s a part of Donald Trump that brings a large part of this country together. He represents a huge middle finger to a lot of people. People are upset about what the economy is. Inflation is out of control. Price setting doesn’t work,” Preibus continued.
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Raddatz jumped in again to point out that Trump isn’t sticking to his policy message. Brazile then continued to criticize the former president, stating how “people are tired” of his “lies” and “insults.”
“We know Donald Trump, we know that every time he opens his mouth, there’s nothing but lies, insults, and vulgarity, and people are tired of it. The American people don’t want this anymore,” Brazile shouted. “They don’t want a president who basically divides us. They don’t want a president who calls us names. Who cannot even pronounce the name of the vice president of the United States. It’s Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris.”
Responding to Brazile, Priebus said, “What they don’t want is out-of-control inflation, a world that’s falling apart, and Kamala who’s lying to the American people about whose fault it is. I mean does she bear no fault for where we are in this economy? She has nothing to do with this? She has nothing to do with the withdrawal of Afghanistan? She has nothing to do with — ” before being interrupted.
The three began speaking over each other, with Priebus making a final point about President Joe Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal, noting that Harris was “the last person in the room” during the decision-making.
Since Harris became the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee after Biden withdrew from the race on July 21, some Republicans have begun questioning Trump’s campaign messaging against her, as polls continue to favor Harris. GOP figures, including businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway and ex-White House aide Peter Navarro, have publicly urged Trump to focus his messaging on policy, according to CNBC.
“The path forward is to focus on policy. Those are three words for the Republican Party that I think is a path to success: Focus on policy,” Ramaswamy previously told NPR.
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