RNC Chairman Reince Priebus calls CNBC debate moderators 'improper' and 'unprofessional'

Reince Priebus.
(Image credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

As soon as the CNBC GOP debate was finished Wednesday night, an angry Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus went on the attack, accusing the moderators of asking "gotcha questions" and fostering a "hostile" environment.

In a statement, Priebus said the "performance by the CNBC moderators was extremely disappointing and did a disservice to their network, our candidates, and voters." He then went to Twitter, where he announced that CNBC should "be ashamed of how this debate was handled," and said in the future, he will "fight to ensure future debates allow for a more robust exchange." Other conservatives on Twitter agreed that the debate was a disaster, but they pinned some of the blame on him.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.