Rand Paul Says He’s Lost ‘A Lot of Respect I Once Had for Donald Trump’ After His Family Was Uninvited to White House Picnic

Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) hit back at President Donald Trump after he and his family were disinvited from the annual White House picnic.

Paul, a longtime fiscal hawk, opposes a Trump-backed spending bill before the Senate because the Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill will add $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.

On Wednesday, CNN’s Manu Raju caught up with Paul outside the Capitol, where the senator addressed the revoked invitation for seven minutes.

“I think I’m the first senator in the history of the United States to be uninvited to the White House picnic,” he said. “I just find this incredibly petty. I mean — I have been, I think, nothing but polite to the President.”

Paul added, “The level of immaturity is beyond words.”

The senator went so far as to say he has lost respect for the president.

“I’m arguing from a true belief and worry that our country is mired in debt and getting worse,” he said. “And they choose to react by uninviting my grandson to the picnic. I don’t know. I just think it really makes me lose a lot of respect I once had for Donald Trump.”

Paul accused White House aides of “running sort of a paid influencer campaign against me for two weeks on Twitter.” He even said that “someone has told us that the White House called them from the White House, and offered them money to attack me online.”

He added, “So, it’s silly in a way, but it’s also just really sad that this is what it’s come to,” he continued. “But petty vindictiveness like this, I don’t know. It makes you wonder about the quality of people you’re dealing with.”