RNC Chairman Reince Priebus also brought it up in his closing speech to the attendees, telling the GOP, “We can disagree at times, but we don’t have to be disagreeable. Even here, at this meeting, we’ve had our debates, but we see the same big picture.”

Priebus added that there are “people who want to turn the healthy conversations we’re having into headlines. They want to make a family discussion look like division. But we’re not going to let that happen, either.

“I think it’s a good thing that we can have honest discussions on policy,” Priebus said at the event in Boston. “A robust party should take time to debate the right solutions and the right tactics. But there shouldn’t be any question: We’re united on our principles. … We’ve got a healthy, energized party. And that’s threatening to some people. So they label debate as division and they call a conversation a civil war. But they should save the tabloid headlines. We’re a party that believes in the exchange of ideas anchored by the values of freedom and opportunity. Not a party of top-down conformity.”

While Priebus downplayed the idea of a “civil war” within the party, he did mention specific issues that divide some leaders of the party, such as the NSA surveillance programs and privacy, as well as how to defund the president’s health care program.