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Report: Priebus Told Trump to Drop Out Over Access Hollywood Tape

Warned that Donald faced huge election loss.

Reince Priebus reportedly advised Donald Trump to drop out of the general election after the Access Hollywood tape leaked in early October. Priebus went to his penthouse and told him the tape—which showed Trump chatting with Billy Bush on a hot mic about how his fame allows him to “grab [women] by the pussy”—would cause him a “worse election loss than Barry Goldwater’s,” according to a New York magazine report. Of course, Trump won the election on Nov. 8, and Priebus will be his first White House chief of staff in 2017. The report also compared the real-estate mogul's transition team to HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones, with sources telling reporter Gabriel Sherman that there is fierce competition for influence between Priebus and top strategist and former Breitbart CEO Steve Bannon. “It’s not hand-to-hand combat,” one senior Republican told the magazine. “But they do have different worldviews.”