--- title: RNC: Bernie Sanders Tougher Opponent Than Hillary Clinton description: The head of the RNC said he'd rather the GOP nominee face Hillary Clinton in the general election than Bernie Sanders. canonical: https://time.com/4182980/republicans-rnc-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-15T19:40:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:30.725Z article:section: Politics og:title: GOP Chief Says Sanders Would Be Tougher to Beat Than Clinton og:description: "I always like the known commodity" og:url: https://time.com/4182980/republicans-rnc-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39314933ad3bbafd/698878fa524fc0c88fdf6482/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-twitter-election.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: CBS News Democratic Presidential Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: GOP Chief Says Sanders Would Be Tougher to Beat Than Clinton twitter:description: "I always like the known commodity" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39314933ad3bbafd/698878fa524fc0c88fdf6482/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-twitter-election.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # GOP Chief Says Sanders Would Be Tougher to Beat Than Clinton ## Video: FOX January GOP Debate in Under 4 minutes [Watch (HLS stream): FOX January GOP Debate in Under 4 minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/43Jv4tOR.m3u8) (3:59)  _Published 2016-01-15. GOP DEBATE 011416: The FOX January GOP Debate in Under 4 minutes_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 15, 2016 7:40 PM UTC  Sen. Bernie Sanders and Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Democratic Presidential Debate in Des Moines, Iowa on Nov. 14, 2015. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Democratic Presidential Debate in Des Moines, Iowa on Nov. 14, 2015.Chris Usher—CBS/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 15, 2016 7:40 PM UTC The head of the Republican National Committee [said](http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/rnc-chair-sanders-a-tougher-candidate-to-beat-than-clinton-i#.oqkjjd9mB) he’d rather his party’s presidential nominee face Hillary Clinton in the general election than Bernie Sanders. “Probably Hillary Clinton, it’s a tough call, but I always like the known commodity,” said Priebus, when asked which Democratic candidate he’s rather run against, said in remarks reported by _Buzzfeed_. “Although, I do think the sort of wild, socialistic, liberal Bernie Sanders would be fairly easy to beat as well,” Priebus added. Whether Priebus truly believes this—or whether he’s baiting his opposition—Ohio Gov. John Kasich does not agree. Speaking at [the Republican debate](http://time.com/4182083/republican-debate-donald-trump-nasty/) in Charleston, S.C., on Thursday, Kasich said, “We’re going to win every state if Bernie Sanders is the nominee. That’s not even an issue. And I know Bernie. And I can promise you he won’t be president of the United States.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4182980/republicans-rnc-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4182980/republicans-rnc-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/"},"headline":"GOP Chief Says Sanders Would Be Tougher to Beat Than Clinton","datePublished":"2016-01-15T19:40:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:56:30.725Z","description":"\"I always like the known commodity\"","url":"https://time.com/4182980/republicans-rnc-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39314933ad3bbafd/698878fa524fc0c88fdf6482/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-twitter-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39314933ad3bbafd/698878fa524fc0c88fdf6482/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-twitter-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CBS News Democratic Presidential Debate","caption":"Sen. 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