Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said that sometimes he loses his cool and “should be better at that” when he’s asked “when are you going to stop beating your wife”-type questions during interviews, but that people want “someone who will stand up and not just roll over and take it” because many “wanted Romney to be tougher against Obama” on Wednesday’s “Kelly File” on the Fox News Channel.
Rand stated, “when an interview’s contentious and when an interview’s full of a lot of opinion and editorializing and it’s a long-winded question. that’s setting you up to say, ‘well you know, you’ve been beating your wife all of these years and when are you going to stop beating your wife?’ it’s very difficult in those contentious interviews…I do lose my cool, and I lost — I do lose my temper some time, and I should be better at that, but the thing is you don’t get any visual clues, and it’s much harder to have–I think usually when you’re sitting down with someone it’s easier to have a reasonable conversation.”
Anchor Megyn Kelly countered that in the hostile interviews he’s had with Kelly Evans and Savannah Guthrie “those women were not yelling at you. They were not yelling at you,” Rand “well, I wasn’t yelling at them either. Basically it was a talking over each other kind of thing.”
He was then asked “do you regret shushing the one reporter? and — Savannah Guthrie’s not exactly known for her, you know, aggressive unfairness.”
Rand stated, “I think the question was unfair. Do I think that I responded appropriately? You know, I would rather not have contentious interviews. I would rather do 30 minutes with Charlie Rose laid back in a — la-z-boy chair.”
He added, “I think also that people want someone who will stand up and not just roll over and take it. Do you remember Reagan when he said I paid for the microphone, I’m going to speak my piece? So, I think people do want — on occasion they feel like, for example, like in the debates the last time some of us wanted Romney to be tougher against Obama after Benghazi. I’m not going to lay down and let Clinton talk over me.”
Rand denied that he was motivated by sexism, saying “Can I do better, Yes. Am I sometimes thin-skinned? Yes. But am I equal opportunity? I mean, I had a tiff with a male reporter today, it has nothing to do with sexuality.” Kelly agreed with this point, telling male commentators like Chuck Todd to “butt out” and that Paul does have the right to push back and Evans and Guthrie don’t need their help. She later added that it’s “sexist” for people to step in to try and “protect” female reporters from Rand.
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