Harry Reid Wins Again as RNC Chairman Calls Him a Dirty Liar

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 12:58 pm

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RNC Chairman Reince Priebus couldn’t resist throwing more gasoline on to the Romney tax returns fire by calling Harry Reid a dirty liar.

Here is the transcript from ABC’s This Week:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s get a response right away to what you just heard from the congresswoman.

PRIEBUS: Do we want to continue down the direction of unemployment above 8 percent for countless months, a president that hasn’t lived the mission, hasn’t fulfilled the promises. People aren’t better off today than they were three or four years ago. Do we want to continue in that direction? Heck no.

And as far as Harry Reid is concerned, listen, I know you might want to go down that road, I’m not going to respond to a dirty liar who hasn’t filed a single page of tax returns himself. Complains about people with money but lives in the Ritz Carlton here down the street. So if that’s on the agenda, I’m not going to go there. This is just a made-up issue. And the fact that we’re going to spend any time talking about it is ridiculous.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You say you are not going to respond, but you just called him a dirty liar. You stand by that, you think Harry Reid is a dirty liar?

PRIEBUS: I just said it.

Republicans like RNC Chairman Reince Priebus are attempting to change the subject by getting people to ask the wrong question. The question isn’t is Harry Reid lying. What people should be asking themselves is, why hasn’t Mitt Romney released his tax returns? Harry Reid would never be able to accuse Romney of not paying taxes if the Republican nominee released his tax returns.

Republicans don’t want to discuss Romney’s tax returns, so they talk about Harry Reid instead. What they aren’t getting is that when they talk about Reid, they are also talking about Mitt Romney’s tax returns.

By calling Harry Reid a dirty liar, Reince Priebus just threw more gasoline on to the fire. Romney and his party can’t avoid this question, and it is not going to go away until Romney releases his tax returns.

Every time you get suckered in to debating whether or not Harry Reid is telling the truth, you are playing the Republicans’ game. This isn’t about Harry Reid. It is all about Romney’s refusal to release his tax returns.

Reince Priebus has zero evidence that Harry Reid isn’t telling the truth. If Priebus wants to prove Reid wrong, then tell Mitt Romney to release his tax returns. If Democrats are wrong, why hasn’t Romney released the proof that there is nothing in his tax returns? An innocent person does not hide the evidence that could exonerate them.

Every time Reid’s statements make Republicans talk about Romney’s tax returns, he wins. Harry Reid is driving the narrative of this campaign, and as long as Republicans keep playing into it, Democrats will continue to benefit.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association