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RNC Chairman: Obama Is ‘Abandoning The Ship’ Like Italian Cruise Ship Captain

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» 100 comments

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus appeared on Face the Nation today, and dismissed concerns that the fighting in the GOP was overblown by the media and drew parallels to the 2008 Democratic primary race, but in speaking candidly about President Obama, Priebus compared his leadership to the infamous captain of the Italian cruise ship whose actions proved to be somewhat cowardly when faced with disaster.

RELATED: RNC Chair Accuses MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts Of Asking Question ‘Loaded With DNC Talking Points’

Bob Schieffer started out the interview by bringing up the Newsweek cover depicting Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as Roman warriors, and uncomfortably asked Priebus if he’s ever seen Gingrich shirtless. Priebus vehemently denied it, but more seriously, he doubted the race was tearing up the Republican party as much as the media has been making it out to be. After all, he pointed out, current DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz was a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Florida primary, and accused Obama of being a hypocrite at one point.

But Schieffer pointed to remarks made earlier on the show by Donald Trump that there is an unprecedented level of “hatred” in the Republican party right now, and asked Priebus if he thought any of the intra-party fighting going on could damage the GOP. He dismissed such concerns, reassuring everyone that in a few months, all the squabbling will be over and the party will mobilize behind a nominee.

“In a few months, this is all going to be ancient history, and we’re going to talk about our own little Captain Schettino, which is President Obama, who’s abandoning the ship here in the United States and is more interested in campaigning than doing his job as president.”

RELATED: DNC & RNC Heads Clash Over President Obama’s Economic Record On Face The Nation

When Schieffer asked him to clarify that statement, Priebus doubled down, and joked that the boats behind Schieffer on camera made him think of it. But Priebus continued to insist that the fighting going on the GOP this time around is no worse than what the Democrats did four years ago, and even disagreed with Sarah Palin‘s assessment that the race was down to the Republican establishment vs. conservative activists.

Watch the video below, courtesy of CBS:

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  • Anonymous

    George Bush ran the country aground. Obama has remained in the wheelehouse trying to guide her off the shoals.

  • Jonathan Cantor

    Too soon…

  • Anonymous

    Reince you’re so smart and can do a better job, how come you’re not running?  Big mouth Conservatard pussies. Nothing more appealing than watching a man complain about a woman.

  • Anonymous

    Sorry Republicans but this whole “The President isn’t allowed to campaign” argument is a total dead end. And throwing in terrible and tacky analogies doesn’t make it any better.

  • Gloves Silky Donahue

    Obama was still in the Dem primaries until June 3rd of 2008, and he was being beaten regularly by Hillary, but managed to hang on to win the nomination.

    Barry gave up governing a long time ago and has been pandering to the shallow thinkers, demagoguing and whipping up envy for those who have more. Rather than push the discredited ” Buffet Rule”, he should switch to the more dramatic “Roseanne Barr Rule”:

    Behead anyone who has $100 million or more.

  • Anonymous

    Bullies are always surprised when their victims fight back.

  • Anonymous

    Middle class Americans are not envious of Mitt Romney’s wealth, they’re envious of his tax rates.

  • Anonymous

    They just spit out random remarks and don’t offer up any facts to back it up….when one of them does try they make up the “facts” too!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

    That’s funny because my letter to the editor at http://www.kentucky.com/2012/01/29/2047708/letters-to-editor-jan-29.html appeared today. I made the case that the GOP should recruit Schettino a a GOP presidential candidate. It would improve their pool exponentially.  The GOP clown car crash is made more spectacular in the technicolor that is all that clown make-up.

  • OSTL

    mitt doesn’t make the rules he just plays by them…how much extra did obama or buffet pay?

  • OSTL

    rofl!

  • Anonymous

    They want him to make their job easier for them. They also fear him because he’s very good at campaigning. It’s why douchebags like Bolling are whining about Obama using AF1.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08S4poMGvwA George Clueless

    If I were an editorial cartoonist, I would be working on my “Obama trips into a lifeboat” cartoon right now.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Gloves, but we’ll pass on your campaign suggestions.  How’s your side doing?

  • Anonymous

    President ,downgrade, food stamps, race card, class warfare, it’s not my fault!

  • OSTL

    Thanks “bill”, but we’ll pass on your campaign suggestions.

  • Anonymous

    I watched this live this morning – and it was such a sad performance by Bob.  The question about seeing Gingrich shirtless was so wierd and strange – it led me to question Bob’s soundness, he is aged and is getting quite strange in his older age.

    As for the comparison to the cruise ship captain, poor Bob didn’t get it, he sat there with a confused look on his face until Preibus has to tell Bob what he was talking about.  It wasn’t that Preibus made a comment that was a stretch, which is being implied in this article, it was the Bob didn’t recognize the name of the Captain – he is clearly not in the know any longer.

    Time for Bob to retire.

  • Anonymous

    Wow. Obama is abandoning the ship? HMMM Gee, I thought it was the Republicans who abandoned all sense of reason in an attempt to see Obama fail. Say, how is that strategy working?

  • Anonymous

    Obama is a failure, failing all on his own.  Just cuz the media likes to cover up for him, he cannot escape the truth….just look at his SOTU, same as his last SOTU and the one before that. 

  • Anonymous

    Euthanize the Republicant establishment.

  • Anonymous

    Not really, the SOTU was the opening salvo in what will be an epic throw down between the POTUS and whomever your side chooses. Please hurry up and make up your minds.

  • Anonymous

    Witty, come up with those all by yourself?

  • Anonymous

    Obama is a failure? Really? You must pine for the day of the 6,600 Dow or Osama living in a million dollar home. Boy you people are stupid.

  • Ben

    Shining example of great journalism there……

    Priebus:”and we’re going to talk about our own little Captain Schettino, which is President Obama, who’s abandoning the ship here in the United States and is more interested in campaigning than doing his job as president.”

    Bob Schieffer  :what did you just called the President?

    Priebus:I called him Captain Schettino…blablabla….

    Bob Schieffer: “Yea I know…(laughing)….and…moving on….”

    Wow….good job Bob….seriously.

    Next time maybe you can let the guy say the POTUS is like Jason Voorhees,cause he likes to kill people,laugh about it,and then move on without even try to challenge it.That would be fun.

    I mean,everyone likes an analogy,right,Bob?

    Really great journalism there….seriously.

  • Anonymous

    RNC PR BS

  • Anonymous

    If Obama’s failure is all because of a Republican congress obstructing him, Obama comes off looking incompetent, compared to Clinton, who had the terrible Newt Gingrich to battle. Either that, or because congress spends the money, Gingrich was the one who managed to cut the deficit.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

    Shouldn’t be so quick to turn the suggestions down.  You need all the help you can get. 

  • Anonymous

    Obama and Buffett want to change the rules that allows them to pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries. Mitt Romney wants to keep the status quo. Ronald Reagan would agree with Buffett and Obama.

  • WiddleBabyDanielson

    bingo

  • WiddleBabyDanielson

    What did bush do?

  • Gloves Silky Donahue

    Obama is more like the guy on the Titanic who dressed up like a woman to slip by the authorities to get on the lifeboat.

    Obama has been slipping by his responsibilities for three years, ducking the deficit, entitlement reform , tax reform,etc., and letting Reid and Pelosi do his job. Obama prefers golf, parties and video games to working.

  • Anonymous

    *shrug* whatever… does stuff like this really do anything except make the base nod and smirk? I mean, it’s a nice jab I guess…. but the economy has slowly been improving, Obama’s approval stands at 50% (and this usually improves as the election draws nearer) so the sinking ship analogy doesn’t really work.

    These kinds of insults are kind of annoying… momentarily, then we go back to reality, where Obama will probably beat the Republican candidate… cause he’s better than them. He’s better… better than Newt or Mitt or Rick. They just aren’t on his level and they’re all an embarassment in their own way. They are all a microcosm of what’s wrong with the GOP, from the serial adulterer Newt, Rick Santorum the super-idiot religious fanatic, and MItt Romney, professional flip-flopper who honestly doesn’t seem to have his own opinion on anything, for fear it might cost him voters.

  • 12voltman1

    Beside scew up America?
    Nothing!

  • 12voltman1

    14%
    Are you shiting me?

  • 12voltman1

    Your bitter bigoted xenophobia is showing.

  • Anonymous

    But you’re proud of the dynamic duo Boehner and Cantor huh?

  • 12voltman1
  • 12voltman1

    NICE

  • Anonymous

    If Mitt loves America why is all of his money off shore?

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08S4poMGvwA George Clueless

    Next time maybe you can let the guy say the POTUS is like Jason
    Voorhees,cause he likes to kill people,laugh about it,and then move on
    without even trying to challenge it.

    You mean like this:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH87c0h4WK8&t=1m46s
    and this:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGnE83A1Z4U&t=0m55s

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08S4poMGvwA George Clueless

    Dingy Harry is the one obstructing Congress, but nice try.

  • Duke Chesnut

    Time to put Bob out to Pasture. Capitian Obama is rearranging the deck chairs and fleecing the passengers on the sinking Ship-of- State into the Socialist Sea.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KIDW2FNGRZJPARNAIAHLPJ62PI Charlie

    mý clássmáte’s sister-in-láw mákes $87/höür ön the internet. She hás been withöüt á jöb för 10 mönths büt lást mönth her check wás $8916 jüst wörking ön the internet för á few höürs. Reád möre ön this web site… LázyCásh10.cöm

  • Anonymous

    Hey, it is not his fault!

  • Anonymous

    Obama has not abandoned the ship.  Since September, POTUS has been trying to get
    portions of his jobs plan through Congress. It included $450 billion in tax
    cuts and new spending, including infra-structure construction, greater cuts to
    payroll taxes and tax breaks for companies that hire those who’ve been out of
    work for six months or more. Almost none of it has been passed into law; which
    poses the question:  Has the GOP Congress
    jumped ship?

  • rick.ruskin

    Why not document what you say? Did Bush promote the irresponsible lending standards that brought on the meltdown? I’ll answer that one for you, no he did not, the dems did that all on their own.

  • Anonymous

    More misinformation by the RNC. I guess when you are good at something, you stick with it.

  • Anonymous

    What you failed to mention is BOTH Democrats and Republicans voted against obama’s jobs bill…..also the House has several dozens of jobs bills passed by both Democrat and Republican votes that Reid will not bring to the floor for a vote.  So I ask has the Democratic senate left the building or is this just a campaign ploy so the Dems can continue to blame everyone but obama?  He definately can’t run on his record.  By the way, where’s the budget, it’s been over 1000 days.

    ANYONE BUT OBAMA

  • Anonymous

    What the GOP has passed are not real jobs bill; they have just stuck the label job bill on them.

  • Anonymous

    Yes.When President Obama took office. Seems their soul purpose is to let America go down with the ship.Of course they jumped off first.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_45S32GWGDRUJIL6E2U4HOZW4BM Bob

    Everyone knows presidents are supposed to dress up in flight suits and strut on aircraft carrier decks when campaigning.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_45S32GWGDRUJIL6E2U4HOZW4BM Bob

    Republicans would be the guys who refused to put enough lifeboats on ships, thinking the idea was some kind of socialist regulation of the Titanic’s free enterprise rights.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_45S32GWGDRUJIL6E2U4HOZW4BM Bob

    Four legs good, two legs bad.
    Rupert Murdoch is pleased you have no problem abandoning reality and can get the talking points down so easily.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_45S32GWGDRUJIL6E2U4HOZW4BM Bob

    Yeah, that’s what “Chosen by God” George W. Boosh and his backers say about the crash that happened on their watch.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_45S32GWGDRUJIL6E2U4HOZW4BM Bob

    No, Rudy Guiliani would be the one doing the cross-dressing, and then he’d run for office on the position of a noun, a verb and an iceberg.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_45S32GWGDRUJIL6E2U4HOZW4BM Bob

    Save yourself a few vowels when typing, and just call Reince Priebus “RNC P.R. B.S.”

  • huffnnoccupyn

    *buzz*

    Wrong answer. Very, very wrong answer. It was bi-partisan effort of the politicians being seduced and hypnotized by Wall Street’s money to loosen and not enforce regulations and push the smaller banks to their limit in order to feed the larger ones.

  • Anonymous

    “mitt doesn’t make the rules”.
    The hell he doesn’t. He and the lobbyists behind Bain Capital have put big $$$$ to keep current tax loopholes.

  • Anonymous

    no man or woman is worth your tears, and the one who is, won’t make you
    cry. Find 
    true love? ——-> sugarcupid.C○MIt is a person’als place where you can meet success’ful rich men, classy
    mature women, rich women looking for marriage, or just meet beautiful friends
    and singles. Good luck! :)

  • Anonymous

    Happened under a democrat congress!

  • Anonymous

    Why do you think Obama is a foreigner?

  • AliveStillKickin

    ‘U.S.S. Obamaboat’: Ad Paints Obama as Captain of Slave Ship
    Republican Congressional candidate Mark Oxner’s new ad will certainly
    have people talking. Set aboard a ship of fools, the ad almost seems as
    if it could have been directed by the macabre Tim Burton and offers an
    eccentric mix of just about everything — from a Cialis reference to a
    cameo by the famed “Anonymous” masked-figure, from a jab at Obamacare to
    a dig at the “99 percent.”

    On this Alice in Wonderland-esque vessel, rafts full of enslaved
    children row-away as Captain Barack Obama of the “U.S.S. Obamaboat”
    recklessly steers the ship toward the edge of a waterfall, and, certain
    doom.

    It comes as no surprise then, when Oxner closes the ad by asking voters to “turn this ship around” before it is too late.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBC4-IMbsBM

  • Anonymous

    Priebus is the turd in the punchbowl.Obama didn’t keep the promise of cleaning up W’s mess  fast enough.If Obama starts putting wall street crooks behind bars,no republican assclown will have a chance in november.

  • Anonymous

    Another embarrassing “monkey see, monkey do” Priebusism

  • Anonymous

    It was bypartisan when clinton signed the bill too repeal Glass-Steagal.Both parties should reinstate it,we the the people should demand that they do so.

  • Anonymous

    Willard wants his rate to be zero on capital gains.And poor folks to start paying twenty five percnt.

  • Anonymous

    It’s the result of the repeal of Glass-Steagal in 1999.Championed by Graham of texas (R) and signed by Clinton.Both parties should have there asses kicked.You live in an olagarchy.kleptocracy,plutocracy,corpocracy,whatever you want to call it.It will probably take a revolution to fix it,and I don’t mean voting for assclown Ron Paul.

  • J M

    you cant have things both ways you fukwad.

  • Anonymous

    Those clips accurately describe conservatives.

  • Anonymous

    Clinton decimated welfare and fed the rich tax breaks and subsides,and repealed Glass- steagal.Why would a republican not be in favor of these?It’ all bullshit smoke and mirrors when you take a closer look.

  • Anonymous

    Obama could never get done, what Clinton got done. Obama is just too weak.

  • Anonymous

    It’s easy to get things done if it;s exactly what the opposing party wants .Obama doesn’t have that luxury.I think you’re missing the point.

  • Anonymous

    immm air repubicans need to get dare faces out of da blu barry pie and help king food stamp get the chevy volt out of the ditch.

    And we wil much, be that committed

    This message is payed for by the Allen West for president online campaign!!!!!!!

  • Anonymous

    The rules need to be changed.

  • Anonymous

    Yep  !

  • Anonymous

    The Dinos need to be run out of office.

  • Anonymous

    to the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the
    world. Find  true love? ——-> sugarcupid.C○MIt is a person’als place where you can meet success’ful rich men, classy
    mature women, rich women looking for marriage, or just meet beautiful friends
    and singles. Good luck! :)

  • Anonymous

    The ship is still afloat thanks to Obama.

  • Anonymous

    They would say, if they didn’t pay for a lifeboat, let them die !

  • Anonymous

    I’ll see your “several dozens” of “jobs bills” upon which Reid won’t allow a vote and raise you 181 filibusters that held up legislation in the first two years of President Obama’s term.

  • expatpatriot

    Keep up the dickheadery, Reince. It just makes things easier for Obama and the Democrats.

    Who would have thought they could find a worse RNC chair than Steele?

  • Anonymous

    Bush-hating Leftists are shrieking in anger when ‘Their Boy’ gets bludgeoned. Happily, they have nearly a year of this to suffer through.

  • Anonymous

    You forgot the codpiece.

  • Anonymous

    So Gingrich should get credit for the surplus under Clinton. Did you know, every bill Clinton signed in his second term, was written in congress.

  • Anonymous

    Are you saying ,Clinton was a failure?

  • Anonymous

    If Obama puts the Wall Street “crooks” in jail he wont have any financiers any more dont be naive…hypocritical at best

  • Anonymous

    The buffett “secretary tax rate” has been debunked get over it.

  • Anonymous

    $16 trillion in debt enough said

  • Anonymous

    It’s safe to say that when you toss a zinger out on national TV and then have to explain the joke, it’s time to stop and just say what you’re thinking rather than trying to get them in under the radar.

  • Чёрт Возьми

    Obama is talking truth.

  • Anonymous

    Something tells me you don’t get taken very seriously too often.

  • Anonymous

    The president is allowed to campaign – it would just be helpful if they waited for an election. All of them. They are useless, constantly campaigning clowns.

    The problem is people believe C Matthews and his idiocy – Life is a campaign. Uh, not quite.

  • Anonymous

    Nah, it’s best when they send their white house PR staff off to start super pacs. Let them campaign for you…

    You know, kinda like Bill Burton did. You know, they guy that was on Obamas PR staff, helping him chide the SCOTUS on Citizens United. Yeah, he left and joined a Super Pac.

    To me, that’s a much better idea than some silly photo op on a military vehicle.

  • http://www.facebook.com/tonykoch1 Tony Koch

    obama started with the ditch talk…. now the RNC does the same and the media is aghast….. hypocrites

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IC7HRBJRXKA7IKTTZS5W3UIECQ Agent of Truth

    These idiots in the GOP will say anyting no matter how incorrect it is.  They are all lying their way through this election.  The truth is not in any of them.  Since they cannot stand on the basis of merit or integrity, the only way they can get support or attention is simply to make up lies about Obama.  If there is a correct analogy to this it is the fact that the repugs sunk the ship on a reef where 3/4 of the ship is completely submerged.  Below the water line you have the middle class begging for salvation and on the top deck you have the 1% and the repugs they own doing everything they can to make sure the hatches stay locked to keep the middle class below the ship’s submerged areas.

  • Anonymous

    Reince Priebus is so full of it! This TEA-GOP-Republican fringe are running scared as they have seen the polls showing their declining numbers and even some who have abandoned their radical causes. What is trending is the ” Estasblished GOP” raging against the “TEAParty”
    extremist! Gingrich, the defrocked speaker of
    the House, original godfather of government gridlock, two-faced philandering
    impeacher of Bill Clinton, fondler of six-figure account at Tiffany’s, is going
    head-to-head with the established powers inside Washington’s beltway. Gingrich, the defrocked speaker of the House, original godfather
    of government gridlock, two-faced philandering impeacher of Bill Clinton,
    fondler of six-figure account at Tiffany’s, is going head-to-head with the
    established powers inside Washington’s beltway. This TEA-GOP-Republican primary
    has turned into a very entertaining and educational series on debates and
    American politics. It’s so cute to see Gingrich being endorse by Perry and Cain.
    I’m sure Gingrich will
    watch with his own awe Perry’s “Deer in the head lights look”
    as he repeats “Oops” over and over again! And Cain’s endorsement
    reeks of complacency with Newton’s gregarious philandering.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bart-Morgay/100001554351938 Bart Morgay

    What a vile despicable little creep this Priebus is.

  • Anonymous

    If the Republicans had their way , it would be twice that, and we would still be losing more than 750,000 jobs a month. What I don’t understand is why anyone would go back to policies that they know caused a recession. Are they mentally ill? Is there something good about a recession that I can’t see ?

  • expatpatriot

    More like shrieking with laughter.

    Is this the best the ‘Licans have? Apparently so.

  • http://www.facebook.com/PeteGaeta Pete Gaeta

    I believe that for the analogy to be correct, W would have to be the captain who abandons ship. Obama would be the new captain jumping onto the sinking ship to try to save it, while Republicans in Congress would be represented by a pack of howler monkeys, screaming, hurling their feces, and jumping on the new captain to bite and pull hair as he tries to right the ship.

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