Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will give the Tea Party response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Paul will deliver his remarks at the National Press Club after Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) delivers the Republican response, which he will give in both English and Spanish in an attempt to broaden the GOP’s appeal to minorities.
The Tea Party Express will sponsor the Tea Party response for the third straight year. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) gave the first Tea Party response in 2011. Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain gave the Tea Party response last year.
“We are giving a voice to the tea party movement when the mainstream media and the Republican establishment wants to write us off as dead,” said Amy Kremer, chairman of the Tea Party Express.
Paul and Rubio are believed to be 2016 GOP presidential contenders, and Paul would run to the right of Rubio if both enter the 2016 field. These dueling speeches will only increase the chatter about what could be a budding rivalry between the two popular senators.