Priebus: RNC 'Drastically Changing Its Approach to Politics'

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said on Sunday that the party is making a "big, cultural shift" with its minority outreach efforts.

Priebus, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said the RNC's summer meeting in Boston last week was "very positive" despite stories in the media about party infighting and political disagreements.

Those headlines should be replaced by ones that say the party is "drastically changing its approach to politics," Priebus said.

"I'm trying to build party that's year-round," Priebus said, adding the RNC has hired 157 full-time workers since April and probably will double that number by the end of the year.

"In an off-year, coming off the heels of an election loss, to have that many field people in Hispanic, Asian, African-American communities, it's unheard of. This is a big cultural shift in our party," he said.

Priebus also defended the party's decision last week to blacklist two television networks from its presidential-debate schedule.

News of the plan to exclude CNN and NBC from participating in candidate debates leading up to the 2016 election broke Friday during the committee's meeting in Boston.

"Entities like NBC and CNN that are moving forward with four-party miniseries about Hillary Clinton are not going to take part in our debates," Priebus said.