Politics
Why Sen. Rand Paul feels like GOP ‘whipping boy’
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is known for being a firebrand when it comes to his conservative, small-government principles. He’s also known for being a longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, despite taking issue with some of the president’s policies.
But Paul takes issue with being what he says is the only Republican willing to stand up to Trump and his latest moves which, according to Senator Paul, fly in the face of GOP principles and campaign promises.
Most recently, he was concerned over his Republican colleagues’ hesitation to confront Trump about his now-former nominee to lead Office of the Special Counsel, Paul Ingrassia. Ingrassia withdrew from the Senate confirmation process earlier this week after Blue Light News’s reporting on texts that showed him making racist and antisemitic remarks.
“I hear a lot of flack from Republicans and they want me to do it. They say, ‘Oh, well, you’re not afraid of the president. You go tell him his nominee can’t make it,’” says Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee. “I’m just tired of always being the whipping boy.”
In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Paul joins Blue Light News’s Dasha Burns — just hours after he was snubbed from a presidential luncheon — to talk about this GOP fear of confronting Trump, support for House colleague Rep. Thomas Massie, the administration’s latest foreign policy moves, the Epstein files and a “farmageddon” that may be on the horizon.
“If I’m given the choice of President Trump versus Harris or versus Biden, without question, I choose President Trump over and over again,” says Paul. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit back and just say, ‘Oh, I’m leaving all my beliefs on the doorstep. I’m no longer going to be for free trade. I’m no longer going to be for balanced budgets. I’m no longer going to be opposed to killing people without trials, without naming them, without evidence.’ No, I have to remain who I am.”
Later in the show, Dasha speaks to epidemiologist and public health professor Katelyn Jetelina, the founder of the Substack “Your Local Epidemiologist.” They discuss what it’s like being a health communicator in the time of MAHA and why she thinks public health is nearing “system collapse.”
If you want more of The Conversation, check out the interviews with Senator Paul and Dr. Jetelina on YouTube and the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.
“I certainly want him to take the biggest, boldest marker that he has and do that big Trump signature proudly on that legislation,” Speaker Mike Johnson said…
Read More
The retiring North Carolina Republican said implementing the legislation ahead of November’s elections would be an “impossible task.”…
Read More
The Louisiana senator has found himself at odds with the president…
Read More
- Johnson says he will send housing bill to Trump on Monday
- Sen. Thom Tillis rails against Trump’s fixation on voting legislation
- Sen. Bill Cassidy on Trump: ‘Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage’
- GOP leaders cancel Friday votes as House agenda hangs in balance
- Raskin launches discharge effort to formally block ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’
- Johnson-backed plan to combine Pentagon and election bills advances to floor
- Johnson says he will send housing bill to Trump on Monday
- Pentagon and elections bills could be combined in bid to unfreeze House floor
- Johnson says he will send housing bill to Trump on Monday
- Top Trump officials face bipartisan questions in first all-member Iran briefings
-
Politics1 year agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoLuigi Mangione acknowledges public support in first official statement since arrest
-
Politics1 year agoFormer Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid
-
Uncategorized2 years ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
The Josh Fourrier Show2 years agoDOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
Politics1 year agoBlue Light News’s Editorial Director Ryan Hutchins speaks at Blue Light News’s 2025 Governors Summit
-
The Dictatorship10 months agoMike Johnson sums up the GOP’s arrogant position on military occupation with two words