Priebus: 'President did a miserable job' at first debate

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Priebus: 'The president did a miserable job'

RNC chairman reacts to post-debate coverage, polls

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," October 5, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Now President Obama's pathetic debate performance was filled with lies, half truths and flat out deception. Now among the tall tales that he told and told repeatedly, was that Governor Mitt Romney wants to cut taxes by $5 trillion for the rich, the wealthy, the one-percenters.

But today his deputy campaign manager ,who also happens to be, well, an expert in not exactly telling the truth, admitted, well, that's simply not accurate.

Listen very carefully as Stephanie Cutter acknowledges that the number is made up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CNN)

ERIN BURNETT, HOST: His tax cut wouldn't be anywhere near that size.

STEPHANIE CUTTER, DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER, OBAMA CAMPAIGN: So you are disputing the size of the tax cut?

BURNETT: Yes.

CUTTER: Are you disputing how he's going to pay for it?

BURNETT: Well, we're disputing the size because he is going to be --

CUTTER: He does have a $5 trillion tax cut. His campaign -- Erin. He has campaigned on lower being tax rates 20 percent on everybody, including the top one percent. That was one of the main selling points in the Republican primary.

BURNETT: Right. You are saying if you lower them by 20 percent you get a $5 trillion tab, right?

CUTTER: It's a $5 trillion tab.

BURNETT: But then when you close deductions it's not going to be anywhere near $5 trillion, that's our analysis.

CUTTER: Well, OK, stipulated, it won't be near $5 trillion. But it's also not going to be the sum of $5 trillion in the loopholes he is going to close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: There's nuance to that. OK.

Well, joining me now to set the record straight, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus is with us. You know, let's have an honest debate. I thought Governor Romney was like, OK, let me explain this again to you, like a professor and a student, at times. The president obviously didn't want to get it.

REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Well, he explained it over and over and over again. You know, as I was listening to this cut that you just played, it kind gives you insight as to how they add up jobs, they add up the gains, but not the losses.

You get a little window into the mathematics of Barack Obama and Stephanie Cutter, but these guys are amazing. We got on top of them now, on these lies. Sometimes, it takes a one-on-one situation, where have you Governor Romney, Barack Obama, standing there. No filters. They are going to have an honest conversation and debate.

Clearly, the president did a miserable job. One of the reasons he did a miserable job, besides the fact he didn't show up, is that he can't retreat to any facts that are good for his side.

I think Charles just mentioned it a little while ago on your show, which is, if you don't have the facts on your side, it is very, very difficult to stand there in front of 60 million people and defend what you are doing, where you are going. You can't whine about everything because you have been in the president the whole time.

HANNITY: You know, now, the Republican Party put out what you call the big fail. You point out what you believe are 12 specific lies. Number one, the president's plan to cut the deficit by $4 trillion, that he would return America to tax rates under Clinton. That the Obama says Romney's Medicare plan would cost $6 million a year. You know, we can go through the whole list here as you can see it. Health care becomes more affordable. Romney would raise taxes on the middle class. Romney's plan is the $5 trillion tax, his plan balanced as Simpson-Bowles cut, et cetera.

Repeats the war savings fiscal fiction, Social Security structurally sound, created 5 million private sector jobs, you say none of this is true?

PRIEBUS: Yes, well, what is amazing about these guys is that, first of all, not only did he do a lousy job in the debate, but they also threw upon the entire miserable experience for them, a whole mountain of lies on the American people. They woke up the next day and said, wow, not only did we did a bad job and everyone thinks we did. We also lied the whole way through the debate. So now what we are going to do is we're going to call Mitt Romney a liar. Here's the plan. Let's just call them a bunch of liars to try to inoculate that problem. This is their tactic, this has been their tactic for a year --

HANNITY: You have to understand --

PRIEBUS: We all know that's the case.

HANNITY: That's all they had left after this horrific showing by the president.

You know, remember, Mitt Romney's the guy who killed this worker's wife. Mitt Romney's the guy who never paid taxes. Mitt Romney wants dirty air and water. Paul Ryan wants to throw granny over the cliff. They don't care about kids with Down syndrome. These lies have been going on for a long time.

PRIEBUS: It is not going to hold up, Sean. Here's why. We have three more debates. One next week with Paul Ryan and Joe Biden -- I am looking forward to seeing my buddy

HANNITY: This is going to be a doozie.

PRIEBUS: It will be great. I don't want to under-sell Joe Biden because he's pretty clever with good rhetoric. He obviously sticks his foot in his mouth too much, but he is quick on his feet and he is relatable to people. So I don't think we can take that lightly.

But two more debates with the president, two more opportunities, hopefully, as unfiltered as we were last week. I think, of all the problems and all of the -- I think huge disappointments with this president at the debate, was that he continues to perpetrate this myth that somehow he has this magic plan to get our deficit and debts under control, after he himself number one, delivered three massive deficits, every year he has been president --

HANNITY: It's $6 trillion -- to be accurate, as of today, $5.54 trillion in new debt. It will be $6 trillion in new Obama debt.

PRIEBUS: He is the -- he is the debt king of the world. And he is coming out here and telling the American people he has a plan. Well, unfortunately, speeches are not plans. And I think you have to put up or you know what. And he hasn't been able to. Not good enough to whine the next day.

HANNITY: Reince Priebus, good to see you. Thank you for being with us.

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