Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) denounced Congress’s $900 billion Covid relief package as “a bunch of socialist spending” as he doubled down on his opposition to the bill.
Paul appeared on Fox & Friends on Wednesday after he and five other Republican senators voted against the stimulus deal. Pete Hegseth asked Paul if he would support the package if it was streamlined rather than tied to omnibus spending. This prompted the junior Senator from Kentucky to kick off Festivus, by airing his grievances against “wasteful spending” of Washington, and demanded a full economic reopening in spite of the coronavirus.
President Donald Trump massively shook up the bill last night by demanding an amendment that would increase the direct payout from $600 to $2,000 per person. The president also slammed the bill for “all of this wasteful spending” wrapped in with it, so Paul was asked if there was any feasibility to Trump’s call for Congress to authorize a larger payout.
Paul hailed Trump’s attacks on extraneous spending, though Griff Jenkins eventually asked him to weigh in on how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been forced into an impossible political position with this. This led to Paul remarking that for all the talk about “socialism” from Republicans, “that bill yesterday was a bunch of socialist spending, and if you voted for it, you’re no better than the Democrats.”
“So that&
The interview went on with a myriad of topics, though the relief package remained front and center when Paul was asked what he would do if Trump vetoes the bill.
His answer:
I hope he vetoes it, but the only way I would vote for any spending, or any additional spending, is if it came out of existing spending. So if they want to cut the $30 billion we shovel and send overseas, I’m happy to vote for that and we can discuss where we can spend it here in our country…But giving money to people who are already working, look, my kids are working and don’t need a check. They aren’t rich but they don’t need a check and most working Americans don’t need a check right now. It’s a really foolish egg-headed left-wing socialist idea to pass out free money to people, so I part ways with the president on giving people free money.
Watch above, via Fox News.