Rand Paul says if 'you're in favor of World War III,' Chris Christie is your candidate
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul sparred over Russia and Syria at Tuesday's GOP debate, with Paul saying Christie's support of a no-fly zone shows he is "reckless" and "in favor of World War III."
Christie said that if elected, he wouldn't hesitate to "shoot down" any Russian planes that entered the no-fly zone if Moscow was "stupid enough to think that this president was the same feckless weakling that the president we have in the Oval Office now is." Paul scoffed at Christie, saying: "I think if you're in favor of World War III, you have your candidate." Paul said Americans want a leader with "judgment, not someone who is so reckless as to stand on the stage and say, jumping up and down, 'I'm going to shoot down Russian planes.' Russia already flies in that airspace; it may not be something we're in love with, that they're there, they were invited by Iraq and Syria to fly in that airspace."
Then, Paul went there: "It's having that kind of judgment, who you would appoint, that is incredibly important. I think when we think of the judgment of someone who might want World War III, we might think of someone who might shut down a bridge." Christie ignored Paul's dig at the Bridgegate scandal, instead focusing on Paul's use of the word "reckless." "I'll tell you what reckless is," he said. "Allowing Russia to come into Crimea and Ukraine, inviting Russia into Syria to team with Iran, that is reckless. If you think a no-fly zone is a reckless opinion, you're entitled to your own opinion."
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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.
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