Reince Priebus: Hillary Clinton authentic enough for presidency?

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The chairman of the Republican Party, Reince Priebus, said Sunday he questions whether Hillary Clinton is authentic enough to serve the country as president.

In an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," Priebus said he believes Clinton is "a political person," in reaction to former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' new memoir, which said that Clinton told President Barack Obama her opposition to the 2007 surge in Iraq was due to the fact that she was running against him in the primary.

"And I think what this country's starving for are real, authentic people that want to serve this country with a pure heart," Priebus said. "And when they read these things about Hillary Clinton, when they examine her life, they question it. And I think that this is something that is going to be potentially on the ballot coming 2016, and surrounds Hillary Clinton wherever she goes. Is she real? Is she authentic? Is she genuine? Does she want to serve this country with a pure heart? I think she's political, and I think that Robert Gates' book shows that once again."

Meanwhile, Priebus said the Republican party has "a lot of good candidates that are at least percolating right now."

"And I've got a couple from my own state of Wisconsin. So I think we've got a great bench. We're a young, fresh party. And we'll see what happens," he said.