Rand Paul says he isn't going to let Donald Trump get off so easy the second time around. The Kentucky senator tells Politico that he thinks he treaded a little too lightly around Trump in the first GOP debate, so during tonight's debate he's planning to step up his game and confront The Donald as a "fake conservative."
"I think I'll probably try to be a little more aggressive with him," Paul told Politico, adding that Trump is "sophomoric in his diatribe" and that "his rhetoric seems to be stuck in junior high."
With Trump soaring in the polls — he's ahead of Paul by 24 points in the latest CBS News/New York Times poll — Paul says he plans to use the debate to "try to grab the attention of the American electorate."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Numbers don't change from being passive," Paul said. "You either go out and... try to grab the attention of the American electorate or you don't."
-
‘National dynamics will likely be the tipping point’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Two men accused of plotting LGBTQ+ attacksSpeed Read The men were arrested alongside an unidentified minor
-
Israel arrests ex-IDF legal chief over abuse video leakSpeed Read Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi had resigned from her post last week
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
