Rand Paul calls Marco Rubio the 'weakest' candidate on immigration, says he has more of an allegiance 'to liberals'
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) came out swinging during Tuesday's CNN Republican debate, saying that when it comes to immigration, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is not only the "weakest of all the candidates," but also has "more of an allegiance to Chuck Schumer and to the liberals than he does to conservative policy." The Schumer dig was a direct reference to Rubio's role on the bipartisan "Gang of Eight," which tried and failed to pass immigration reform in 2013.
"The one thing that might have stopped San Bernardino, that might have stopped 9/11, would have been stricter controls on those who came here, and Marco has opposed at every point increased security, border security, for those who come to our country," Paul said. The senator from Kentucky said that last week, he introduced a bill "saying we need more security, more scrutiny, and once again Marco opposed this."
Rubio replied by saying the bill only received 10 votes, because it didn't focus on terrorists but would have banned people coming to the United States as tourists. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie entered the fray to call out both senators. "If your eyes are glazed over like mine, this is what it's like to be on the floor of the United States Senate," he said. "Endless debates about how many angels are on the head of a pin from people who have never had to make a consequential decision in an executive position." Christie declared that "nobody in America" cared about the back and forth, adding: "What they care about is, are we going to have a president who actually know what they're doing to actually make these decisions?"
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Political cartoons for October 30Cartoons Thursday's political cartoons include missing SNAP benefits, working without pay, and Graham Platner's terrible tattoo
-
Should Labour break manifesto pledge and raise taxes?Today's Big Question There are ‘powerful’ fiscal arguments for an income tax rise but it could mean ‘game over’ for the government
-
Nigerian Modernism: an ‘entrancing, enlightening exhibition’The Week Recommends Tate Modern’s ‘revelatory’ show includes 250 works examining Nigerian art pre- and post independence
-
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
