Rand on Christie: Room in GOP for People Who Believe in Bigger Govt.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said there was room in the Republican Party for people who believe in bigger government like Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, but he argued the Republican Party will grow by attracting more libertarian-leaning voters. 

Paul said Christie started the feud by implying there was no room in the Republican Party for libertarian-minded people like Paul. Christie and Paul have been feuding since Christie invoked the 9/11 attacks to brand Paul’s libertarian foreign policy as dangerous. Christie has continued to take shots at Paul, a likely 2016 competitor for the Republican presidential nomination, in speeches and comments since those remarks. 

“There is room for people who believe in bigger government for our party,” Paul said, when asked what he though about his father Ron Paul’s comments that Christie “offers nothing” to the party.  

Paul said that national defense is a priority, and it can only be funded if the country is “very frugal with other spending.”

He also said the GOP will grow and attract youth, independents, and even some Democrats with “libertarian Republicans” who believe in a “less aggressive foreign policy” and privacy. Paul noted that the GOP was shrinking in the Northeast, which is Christie’s region.

Paul said it was a “big mistake” on Christie’s part to say there was not room for libertarian Republicans in the party who want to embrace “some of these issues that have to do with individual freedoms.”