The GOP is officially freaked out about Donald Trump

(Image credit: KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images)

published 9 July 2015

Donald Trump has taken over the nascent 2016 Republican primary, gobbling up the media's attention with incendiary comments about Latino immigrants and his trademark braggadocio. It has reached the point where CNN is covering Trump more than Hillary Clinton.

The Trump carnival has become a source of deep concern for the GOP, which fears that his views, which have been criticized as racist, may be mistaken for the party's as a whole, hurting the eventual nominee's chances with Latino voters, among many others. It has gotten so bad that Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus got Trump on the phone to tell him to "tone it down," according to The Washington Post.

Whether Trump will heed the call remains to be seen, particularly given that his comments appear to be resonating with some conservative voters. But as one GOP state party chairman told the Post, "He could be one of the reasons we lose. It's that serious. There's nothing we can do about it, and that's what's so scary."