Rand Paul blamed pop star Richard Marx for a threatening package. Marx's reply was right there waiting for Stephen Colbert.
A suspicious package containing white powder and, reportedly, a death threat arrived at Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) house on Monday. That isn't funny. Threatening anybody, much less a U.S. senator, is serious, even if tests showed that the powdery substance "is not dangerous," as the Capitol Police said Tuesday evening, and "non-toxic," as Kentucky's Warren County Sheriff's Office confirmed separately.
But Paul's response, blaming the threat on '80s pop star Richard Marx, is kind of humorous.
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.
"As a repeated target of violence, it is reprehensible that Twitter allows C-list celebrities to encourage violence against me and my family," Paul tweeted Monday night. "Just this weekend Richard Marx called for violence against me and now we receive this powder filled letter." Twitter said Tuesday that Marx's tweet "was in violation of our glorification of violence policy," and it was taken down.
Marx pushed back, tweeting that Paul's refusal to get vaccinated is much more dangerous than "a wisecrack about Rand Paul's neighbor." But The Late Show also responded to Paul on Marx's behalf, repurposing his 1989 ballad "Right Here Waiting."
Marx played along, too, interrupting Stephen Colbert's monologue to play-act being evil, but mostly to promote his various projects.
-
Magazine crossword: 1499Puzzles The weekly crossword from The Week
-
Political cartoons for January 16Cartoons Friday’s political cartoons include the Nobel Peace prize, the wrong island, and more
-
Lucasfilm passes ‘Star Wars’ torch to new leadersSpeed Read Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down after 14 years at the company
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
