Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus joked Thursday that Vice President Biden had the upper hand in the evening's vice presidential debate because the Democratic incumbent had "been doing this since the 1800s."
"I've known [Republican vice presidential nominee] Paul [Ryan] for a long, long time. He's always hit the ball out of the park. But let me tell you something, this is his first time — Joe Biden's been doing this since the 1800s," Priebus told CNN. "He will do a solid job. So, you know what, they're two different guys."
The RNC chairman went on to say that despite Paul Ryan's insistence that it was "a nervous situation," he did not have any concerns about his party's nominee going into Thursday night.
"I'm not really worried, generally, about any of it," Priebus said.
Priebus and "Starting Point" host Soledad O'Brien then pivoted to an at-times heated discussion of Mitt Romney's comments Tuesday that there was no abortion legislation “that would become part of my agenda.” The Romney campaign quickly walked back the remark, saying Romney would move to defund Planned Parenthood and reinstate the Mexico City policy, which restricts federal funds from being used by private groups overseas from providing abortion services, as president.
Priebus insisted Thursday that Romney's comments were not a "contradiction."
"You can keep saying that, but the fact of the matter is is that Mitt Romney has been absolutely, 100 percent consistent on this issue, that he's pro-life," Priebus said.
The RNC head said Romney was "talking about specific legislation in Congress" now, rather than legislation he would pursue as president.
As O'Brien continued to push Priebus on the issue, the he remarked "I wish you would be as passionate about taking Barack Obama to task for every one of his promises and for every one of his changes that he didn't follow through on."
When the host replied that she did "all of the time," Priebus replied back, "Uh-huh. Sure."
