McConnell: 'I'm a big supporter of Rand Paul' for 2016
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made it clear that if fellow Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul runs for president, McConnell will back him — even saying that the situation was "not tricky at all" if other GOP senators in his caucus were to also run.
"Obviously, I'm a big supporter of Rand Paul," McConnell told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "We've developed a very tight relationship, and I'm for him."
"I don't think he's made a final decision on that," McConnell added, referring to a potential Paul campaign for the White House. "But he'll be able to count on me."
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The relationship between McConnell and Paul has evolved over the past several years. Back in 2010, Paul rode the wave of Tea Party insurgency to defeat McConnell's endorsed candidate in the Republican primary. The two have become much closer since then, however; Paul actively supported McConnell in this year's election, when McConnell himself faced a challenge in the primary.
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