Reince Priebus, RNC chairman, on 2016 schedule: ‘I can control how long we have to kill each other’

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, speaking about the RNC’s 2016 presidential debate schedule, said Wednesday that while he might not always be able to control what candidates say, he can try to control the length of the process.

“Having nine debates, or eight or nine debates, I think is a reasonable amount of debates,” Mr. Priebus said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “It gives our people plenty of time to argue. And I guess it’s also an admission that while I can’t always control everyone’s mouth, I can control how long we have to kill each other. And I think that’s important.”

The RNC recently rolled out its schedule of nine sanctioned debates between August 2015 through March 1, 2016, a pared-back schedule compared to the 2012 GOP primary cycle.

“I think intrigue, drama, interest — I think that can be very good and beneficial for a party, but it can be very dangerous as well,” he said. “And it’s dangerous if you don’t contain the process, so I want a shorter process. I don’t want a six-month process; I want a 60-day process. I don’t want 23 debates. I think we all can agree that’s a little bit out of control.”