Trump’s ‘whipping boy’ says he’s ‘tired’ of doing the dirty work | Latest Lifestyle News
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is calling on the GOP to “man up” against President Donald Trump.
While speaking on POLITICO’s “The Conversation” released Friday, Paul was asked about newly surfaced text messages allegedly sent by Paul Ingrassia, who withdrew his nomination from Trump to lead the Office of Special Counsel on Tuesday. In a chat to a group of Republicans, first reported by the outlet, Ingrassia reportedly said that he has “a Nazi streak” and that Martin Luther King Jr. Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell.”
Ingrassia, who was initially set to appear before senators on Thursday, had also faced scrutiny after POLITICO revealed earlier this month that he had been accused of inappropriate harassment by a colleague. He denied any wrongdoing.
“What I say to the president and to his administration: you need to read the messages, and guess what? You need to make a decision on whether you want to send him forward,” Paul said when asked whether the Senate should halt consideration of Ingrassia for the top ethics spot until a full inquiry is conducted.
He continued: “I’m tired of being the only one that has to block everything and do everything… I hear a lot of flack from Republicans and they want me to do it. They say, ‘Oh, well, you’re not afraid of the president. You go tell him his nominee can’t make it.”
Paul described himself as the “whipping boy,” adding that “I’m tired of the only one that has any guts to stand up and tell the president the truth.”
“These Republicans, if they’re going to vote no, they need to man up and need to say, ‘We’re going to vote no because of this reason.’ And they need to tell the president,” Paul said, before adding: “But so far, what I’m hearing is rumbling and griping, and want me to do their job for them. So they need to step up.”
Earlier in the interview, Paul said that Republicans “don’t have the guts” when it comes to standing true to their beliefs on major issues.
“I think the true test of a principle is whether or not you keep principles no matter which party’s in power,” Paul said.
He later added that his GOP colleagues are “afraid” that Trump will “do to them what he’s trying to do to me.”
“That’s too bad, because it would be a little easier on me if I weren’t the only target. If there were other people willing to stand up and oppose bad policy.”
During a Senate Republican lunch on Tuesday, Trump took aim at Paul, noting that he was the only GOP senator not in attendance. The president went on to rail against him for voting “no on everything.”
“We have everybody but one person,” Trump said. “You’ll never guess who that is.”
In a post on X, Paul said he wasn’t invited to the event at the White House Rose Garden, and attached an image of him instead meeting with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has also faced fierce criticism from Trump in recent months.
The jab came as Trump had lashed out at both Paul and Massie in a Truth Social post last week.
“Whatever happened to ‘Senator’ Rand Paul? He was never great, but he went really BAD! I got him elected, TWICE (in the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky!), but he just never votes positively for the Republican Party,” Trump wrote. “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!!!”
Both lawmakers have clashed with Trump over his “big, beautiful bill” passed earlier in the summer. Paul has vowed to back Massie as he campaigns for reelection, despite Trump throwing his support behind Navy veteran Ed Gallrein, who has not officially entered the race for Kentucky’s 4th District seat.
In the interview, Paul did, though, emphasize that he would choose Trump “over and over again” against former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit back and just say, ‘Oh, I’m leaving all my beliefs on the doorstep. I’m no longer going to be for free trade. I’m no longer going to be for balanced budgets. I’m no longer going to be opposed to killing people without trials, without naming them, without evidence,’” Paul said. “No, I have to remain who I am.”
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