Why Did O’Donnell Praise Rand Paul for Making ‘Politically Bravest’ Statement of the Day?

Rare is the day when MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell finds something to credit Rand Paul for, but he did just that Wednesday night with a segment saying Paul made the “politically bravest” statement of the day. How brave was it? In O’Donnell’s estimation, if Paul ends up running for president in 2016, it will considerably damage his chances.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the War on Drugs, Paul slammed the way it disproportionately targets young black males, saying arrest rates are lopsided because it’s easier to make arrests in urban areas. He told the stories of people whose lives have been ruined by drug arrests, and even quoted an ACLU report, which absolutely astonished O’Donnell.

But what absolutely floored him is when Paul brought up President Obama‘s admission of his drug history, saying< "What a tragedy it would have been if America wouldn't have gotten to see Barack Obama as a leader." O'Donnell was shocked and amazed that Paul would say that, predicting the negative attack ads in 2016 would be relentless. Which is why he credited Paul with "the politically bravest thing that anyone said in Washington today." Watch the video below, via MSNBC:

[photo via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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