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RNC chief downplays Pence-Trump differences

If so, I doubt he’ll retaliate any further.

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He acknowledged that this election cycle, which has included clashes at Trump rallies between supporters and protesters, has “obviously been a politically charged environment”.

“If the public sees the Donald Trump I’ve gotten to know in private”, Priebus said, “he will not be stopped”. I think it’s a good juxtaposition of Donald Trump.

“The principles of the party are the same”, Priebus said, noting the party’s stances against same-sex marriage and abortion. But, he said, Trump “gives us a great opportunity to win”.

Pence said previously that Trump asked him to be his running mate Wednesday, but on cable news shows Trump on Thursday was still saying he was undecided.

“I want to show the unification process continuing and for me”, he said.

The chairman said the party wanted to show Mr. Trump was presidential and Mrs. Clinton was the embodiment of a corrupt, rigged system. “He’s interesting to people, he’s intriguing”.

Priebus suggested Trump will be like Ronald Reagan in 1979, capable of delivering the kind of acceptance speech that took the steam out of Democratic rival Jimmy Carter’s campaign.

Priebus also defended the policy differences between Trump and his No. 2, including on the Iraq war – Pence had backed it, Trump says he did not – and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Pence also has supported though Trump has denounced.

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“I think we’re in the same place”, he said. Trump’s December statement calling for an explicit religious test, in the form of “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”, remains live on his website.

Joe Skipper  Reuters