Reince Priebus: Elections Were Lost By GOP Thanks To 'Idiotic Statements' And 'Biologically Stupid Things'

In an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus implied that his party dropped the ball during the 2012 elections when candidates said "a lot of idiotic things."

"If you go around and you say a lot of biologically stupid things, and you poison the well...or you allow a caricature to become reality, I think it hurts your ability to win an election," said Priebus.

The GOP's U.S. Senate candidate in Missouri, former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), was the most famous example of what Priebus was talking about. Republicans quickly knew they had little to no shot at winning the seat from Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) after Akin claimed that women who have been victims of a "legitimate rape" are physically able to prevent themselves from becoming pregnant.

“You come into a presidential election with a massive turnout, a lot of idiotic things said, and you’ve got a party that hasn’t been deep enough in the communities on a permanent basis,” he added. “So...if your relationships aren't authentic enough in those communities, you can’t control the damage of an unscripted moment like self-deportation, or something like that.”

Priebus' RNC recently released an "autopsy" report on the 2012 elections, assessing the Republican party's shortcomings.

As part of this effort, the RNC intends to spend $10 million this year in an effort to reach out to communities that have been voting Democratic and push a "rebranding" of the GOP.