On Monday, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, wiggling free just far enough from his grip on Donald Trump’s coattails to utter a mild criticism of his party’s nominee, criticized Trump for his comments regarding Gold Star father and mother Khizr Khan and his wife.
Politico reports Priebus told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “And so, yeah, I mean, I think this family should be off limits, and we love them and I can’t imagine being the father of a little girl and boy going through the unbelievable grief of them not coming home one day in battle.”
Referencing Trump’s comment in which he compared the sacrifice the Khan’s had made in losing their son to his own sacrifices in building a business, Priebus added nothing is “more sacrificial than that, and we believe that and we know that and I believe that Donald Trump and Mike Pence also know and understand that.”
Priebus said there is “nothing but honor and respect” for the Khan family and all Gold Star families “that go through these horrific things in their life … It’s an unbelievable place to come from and that’s why I think that we just — we don’t go there and I don’t go there.
Then Priebus returned to his usual supine position regarding Trump: “Donald Trump is gonna speak for Donald Trump. I mean, he wants to defend himself and it’s understandable. But look, like I said before, this is a family that is grieving and they have a right to and we have an obligation to honor them and to love them and to cherish them and that’s where I’m — that’s where I come from. That’s where our party’s coming from.”
“I will absolutely apologize sometime in the hopefully distant future if I’m ever wrong.”
Donald Trump, September 2015
Blitzer asked whether Trump should apologize. Priebus, knowing all too well that Trump never apologizes for anything, replied, “It’s up to Donald Trump,” adding, “You know, I love these families. Our party loves these families. And like I said before, they’re heroes, they’re cherished and, I mean, everything you can imagine. I mean, it’s just an unbelievable burden to carry and, you know, whatever sacrifices that I think I’ve made or whatever sacrifices you think you’ve made, Wolf, I mean, there are crumbs on the floor compared to these families.”
Last September, Trump told Jimmy Fallon, “I will absolutely apologize sometime in the hopefully distant future if I’m ever wrong.”
Not likely.