Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus responded to Ben Carson mispronouncing his name at the GOP debate, saying, “I’ve learned to live with it.”
On Wednesday morning, CNN’s “New Day” host Chris Cuomo joked with Priebus about Carson’s slip, when the former neurosurgeon mispronounced the chairman’s last name, as “Pubis.”
Cuomo asked if it’s something that’s happened to him over the years.
“Listen, from the moment I’ve been in kindergarten on, I dreaded the first day of school when a teacher would try to pronounce my name,” Priebus responds with a smile. “It’s what happens when a Greek and a German get married, Chris, I mean it’s like a cultural disaster. It’s unique and I’ve learned to live with it.”
Carson mispronounced Priebus’ name while speaking during the Republican debate about possibility of leaving the GOP.
He told moderator Hugh Hewitt that the statement he made last week about leaving the Republican Party was contingent on whether the party acts like in the past with “dishonesty.”
“Because I spoke with Reince Pubis,” Carson said, twice mispronouncing the chairman’s name. “They’re not going to be engaging into anything to thwart the will of the people. That’s why I got into this race … to try to bring some honesty and integrity back to the process.”
This isn’t the first time Carson has mispronounced a word during an important appearance. Earlier this month, Carson mispronounced Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic organization that has been on the U.S. State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations since 1997, as “hummus.”