Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said President Donald Trump calling Democratic lawmakers traders whose comments warrant the death penalty was “reckless, inappropriate, irresponsible.”
Partial transcript as follows:
MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Republican Senator Rand Paul, who joins us from Bowling Green, Kentucky. Welcome back to the program, Senator. A lot to get to, but on this concern about political violence or angry rhetoric, I know the President himself has survived these two attempts on his life. You talked to us about those risks to him. And then we had this killing of Charlie Kirk just a few months ago. Is the President holding himself to the same standard that he is asking of others when it comes to dialing back dangerous rhetoric?
PAUL: You know, everybody knows that the President is famous for his unfiltered social media. But if you take at face value the idea that calling your opponents traitors and then specifically saying that it warrants the death penalty is reckless, inappropriate, irresponsible, there are a number of other ways to describe it, but it’s not something that is helping the country heal wounds. I think it stirs things up and- and really, I think we can do better.
BRENNAN: Well, on the homeland security front, I understand you are chair of that committee, and so you have some insight into some of these domestic threats. It’s not just these Democratic lawmakers. We saw out in the state of Indiana, four Republican state senators were targeted by swatting threats amid President Trump’s public pressure on them to redistrict their state. Just a few weeks ago, we did see one of the convicted January 6 rioters who was then pardoned by President Trump arrested for threatening to kill Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Are we at the point here where it’s not just unfiltered social media posts, but truly dangerous rhetoric?
PAUL: Well, you know, I’ve been on the receiving side of this. Even my father, who’s been retired for some time, has been on the receiving end of swatting. Police are called. Says there’s an emergency in the home, and the goal is to, you know, have someone draw a gun and be killed as the police come in, supposedly to rescue someone who’s not really in need of being rescued. So, I think both sides have been doing this, and I think the language on treason and traitors, both to Republicans and Democrats, is, as I said, reckless, inappropriate, irresponsible.
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