Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul lashes out at Sen. John McCain over ‘dictator’ comment
Feb 20, 2017, 1:12 PM
PHOENIX — Arizona Sen. John McCain has been known to ruffle some feathers within his own party, but Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul threw some verbal jabs at the senior Republican over his comments on “Meet The Press.”
“We’re very lucky John McCain’s not in charge,” Paul said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” according to Fox News. “Everything that he says … should be taken with a grain of salt, because John McCain’s the guy who’s advocated for war everywhere.”
Paul commented on McCain’s war record, saying he supported the Iraq War and would send the country into war if he were in charge.
“If you look at the map, there’s probably at least six different countries where John McCain has advocated for us having boots on the ground.” Paul said.
McCain appeared on NBC’s “Meet The Press” Sunday, where he spoke about the importance of free press in a democracy.
“If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and, many times, an adversarial free press,” McCain told NBC’s Chuck Todd. “Without it, I’m afraid we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That’s how dictators get started.”
While McCain insisted that he was not “saying that President Trump is trying to be a dictator” and instead said “we need to learn the lessons of history,” Paul said he did not agree with the Arizona senator’s comments.
“I don’t agree with his analysis and applying that to the president,” Paul said. “I haven’t seen any legislation coming forward that wants to limit the press. I see President Trump expressing his opinion, rather forceful in his own — you know, his own distinct way.”
