Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Sunday responded to charges that GOP candidates held extreme positions on abortion rights by complaining that Democratic candidates had taken money from strip club owners.
In a heated debate on CNN, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz argued that Republican candidates had "focused on extremism and a Tea Party agenda" in 2014.
"It seems that the Democrats' message is, 'Yeah, ISIS is scary, Ebola is scary, but Republicans are a lot scarier,'" CNN host Candy Crowley told Wasserman Schultz.
The Florida congresswoman pointed out that a Republican House candidate from Colorado, Cory Gardner, had sponsored a bill "that would prevent women from being able to get access to make their own reproductive choices even in the case of rape of incest."
"This is a wonderful conversation," Priebus interrupted sarcastically. "The Denver Post and the Union Leader has said that the Democrats are beclowning themselves with this operation, talking about putting teenagers in jail."
Instead of responding to women's concerns about the personhood bill in Colorado, Priebus turned to the Florida race for governor.
"What about the fact that Charlie Crist, it was discovered the other day, has been taking thousands of dollars from strip club owners he asked?" he asked. "Is Debbie going to call out Charlie Crist on that?"
Priebus also said he wanted to talk about "the congressman in New Mexico that Debbie defended that defended a person that was accused of beating up his wife."
The RNC chairman was most likely referring to Democratic candidate and attorney Roxanne Lara. According to the conservative Washington Examiner, Lara had once represented "a man who allegedly sexually abused his estranged wife, another who allegedly beat his wife and forced her on drugs she was allergic to, another who smashed up his estranged wife’s home, according to a police report, and a fourth accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend."
"Women are worse off today than they ever have been under this president," Priebus declared.
"Reince just wants this to be a monologue because they don't have any issues," Wasserman Schultz replied.
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