According to two GOP officials, RNC chair Reince Priebus told candidate Donald Trump to get his presidential act together or else the party was going to focus on the down-ballot races.
The officials said Priebus described to Trump internal party polls that show his campaign headed in the wrong direction. Priebus told Trump that he would have been better off had he spent the days since the Republican convention at his Mar-a-Lago Club, officials said.
Trump denied the officials’ account of the exchange.
“Reince Priebus is a terrific guy,” Trump told TIME on Tuesday. “He never said that.”
“Why would they state that when I am raising millions of dollars for them?” Trump questioned.
Since the Republican National Convention, Trump has dropped in the polls, endangering other GOP candidates and threatening the party’s control of the House and Senate.
Priebus and Trump talk frequently, with the party chair urging Trump for months to professionalize his operations and campaign. But the tenor of the calls turned more frank and frustrated last week as Trump’s campaign slide continued. The officials said Priebus reminded Trump that his title is RNC chairman, not chairman of the Trump campaign, adding that he would act in the best interests of the Republican Party.
Reince allegedly warned Trump he is running out of time to turn the race around. The party chair also told Trump to say on message.
With early voting just around the corner, is it too late for Trump to turn his ship around?
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