Rand Paul on Trump ‘nasty liddle’ guy’ insult: ‘I don’t take it too seriously’
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) brushed off criticism from President Trump on Tuesday after the president called him a “nasty liddle’ guy” for voting against the Republican Party on key issues.
“I don’t take it too seriously,” Paul said on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” about the president’s jabs.
“I’ve known President Trump for over a decade. I’ve played golf with him a couple dozen times. I actually enjoy his company and his personality, most of the time, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to be a rubber stamp or agree with everything,” the libertarian-leaning senator continued.
Paul has been the lone Senate Republican in recent weeks to vote against a GOP funding proposal amid the government shutdown, citing his concern over increased deficit spending. He also voted against the massive tax and spending bill that contained numerous Trump priorities earlier this year.
In the interview, Paul was asked to respond to Trump’s post on Truth Social from this weekend, when he wrote, “Whatever happened to ‘Senator’ Rand Paul? He was never great, but he went really BAD!” adding, “I got him elected, TWICE (in the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky!), but he just never votes positively for the Republican Party.”
“He’s a nasty liddle’ guy, much like ‘Congressman’ Thomas Massie, aka Rand Paul Jr., also of Kentucky (which I won three times, in massive landslides!), a sick Wacko, who refuses to vote for our great Republican Party, MAGA, or America First. It’s really weird!!!” the president added.
Paul pushed back on the idea that his views are “weird” or out of step with his constituents.
“The idea that it is weird to believe in a balanced budget, or weird to believe that we should only vote for spending proposals that put forward less debt than the year before, I think the American people would disagree with that assessment,” Paul told Piers Morgan on Tuesday.
“I think the people that I represent and the people who voted for me voted for me because I’m very honest and forthright that we have a spending problem, we have a debt problem, and that really both parties are guilty of it,” he continued.
The Kentucky Republican said he’s hearing that his constituents respect his commitment to his principles and the fact that he does not yield to pressure from the president.
“I would say, if anything, my support right now in Kentucky is higher than it’s ever been, and really from people all across the spectrum — Republicans, Democrats and independents — coming up to me and say, ‘We respect, you know, your ability to stand firm for principles, as opposed to just bending the knee or kissing the ring.’”