Republican presidential candidate and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul criticized fellow candidate Donald Trump by arguing that Trump’s dealmaking won’t be “any different than what we have currently” and reacting to Michael Bloomberg’s potential candidacy with, “I thought we already had one liberal billionaire in the race” on Monday’s “Happening Now” on the Fox News Channel.
Rand said, “I think what conservatives have been unhappy about Washington is that there’s so much dealmaking going up there. The conservatives don’t even represent the Republican Party. And I’ll give you an example, the deals that were made recently to raise the debt ceiling and to put all the spending into one bill. I think Trump is really the art of the deal, he is a dealmaker, and I don’t think he’ll be any different than what we have currently. And I think conservatives are going to be really disappointed when they discover, you know what, we thought he was angry and against Washington and it was protesting Washington, it turns out, we got exactly what Washington’s full of, dealmakers.”
When asked about the possible run of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Rand stated, “our initial response was I thought we already had one liberal billionaire in the race.” He further argued Bloomberg represents “the nanny state.”
He was then asked, “isn’t that what Donald Trump is promising, that government is going to make the country great?” Rand responded, “Yeah, and I think that’s a real problem.” He added that people who believe in limited government don’t want too much power going to anyone, and “Donald Trump says, ‘Believe me. I’m rich. I’m smart. I’ll take care of you give me the power.'”
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