Reince Priebus has urged the national party’s Rules Committee not to change anything early. | Getty Priebus dismisses Trump's 'rigged' claims as a lot of hot air

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Sunday dismissed Donald Trump’s claims of a delegate-selection system “rigged” against him as “rhetoric and hyperbole.”

“I’m not at odds” with Trump, Preibus said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”


“You’re not at odds, but it sure sounds like he is,” CNN host Dana Bash replied.

“It depends on what you think,” Preibus said, repeating his claim that Trump’s criticisms were all rhetoric and hyperbole. “There’s nothing that the RNC can do to alter the rules between now and the convention [in mid-July]; it’s not the RNC’s place. So, I don’t sit here and internalize the charge, because there’s nothing the RNC can do about it.”

“It sure sounded like he was threatening you,” Bash said, asking about Trump’s remark that the convention in Cleveland could prove difficult for the GOP.

“First of all, they’re not RNC rules,” Priebus said regarding specific complaints about the delegate-allocation process. “Each individual state determines how they’re going to allocate their delegates. So, it’s up to the campaigns to know the rules and compete in each of those states within the rules.”

Asked about Trump’s claim that rival Ted Cruz was running on a voter-disenfranchisement strategy, the GOP chairman sought to stay above the fray.

“I’m not going to get in the middle of a candidate back-and-forth, but it’s important for the candidates to understand that the majority of delegates is the goal, and you need to play within the confines of the rules to make sure that you get there,” Priebus said.

Still, he called having a majority of delegates not only a necessity under RNC rules but also a matter of American values.

“Having a plurality of the delegates means that the field has the majority,” Priebus said, pushing back on claims that Trump or whomever else holds more delegates than the others in July should automatically win the presidential nomination. “You have to have the majority. It’s the United States of America, that’s what we’re founded on, the electoral college is a majority, the [Democratic National Committee] does it the same way. … The majority rules, and that is an American concept that I can’t imagine us turning our backs on.”

Priebus acknowledged that he had urged the national party’s Rules Committee not to change anything early.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for us … before the convention, to make serious rule changes or recommendations of changes right now. I think we’re in a politically charged environment; it’s too complicated,” Priebus said. “We can’t actually change anything. It’s up to the delegates at the convention, so the recommendations, I think, just confuse people. I think it’s a bad idea.”