Reince Priebus is still in the denial stage of grief over how terrible his candidate is
Donald Trump’s refusal to say he’d accept the results of the election has created an emergency for Republicans, and they’re having a little trouble finding a unified response. Some, especially incumbents in tight races, are distancing themselves. Others, like party leaders Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, are refusing to comment. And still others are insisting there’s nothing to see here:
“All he’s saying is, ‘Look, I’m not going to forgo my right to a recount in a close election,’ ” [RNC Chair Reince] Priebus said. “We accept the results as long as we’re not talking about a few votes where it actually matters. I know him. I know where his head’s at. . . . I promise you, that’s all this is.”
I don’t think that’s a promise you can make, Reince. This is not someone whose behavior you’ve had a whole lot of luck predicting or influencing to this point, so why would it be any different when he’s branded as a giant loser in front of the entire world? Rudy Giuliani has seemed a lot more in tune with Trump in recent weeks than has Priebus, and he ...
… argued that any Republican would be “stupid” to accept the integrity of results before they are known.
“Suppose she wins Pennsylvania by 50 votes,” Giuliani said. He speculated, without evidence, that Democrats would “steal a lot more than 50 votes in Philadelphia. I guarantee you of that. And I’ll tell you how they will do it — they’ll bus people in who will vote dead people’s names four, five, six times . . . or have people in Philadelphia paid to vote three, four and five times.”