{"id":1454791,"date":"2022-04-26T22:29:36","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T02:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1454791"},"modified":"2022-04-26T22:29:40","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T02:29:40","slug":"blatant-attempt-to-misinform-rand-paul-fires-back-at-critics-after-tense-exchange-with-antony-blinken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blatant-attempt-to-misinform-rand-paul-fires-back-at-critics-after-tense-exchange-with-antony-blinken\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Blatant Attempt To Misinform\u2019: Rand Paul Fires Back At Critics After Tense Exchange With Antony Blinken"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fblatant-attempt-to-misinform-rand-paul-fires-back-at-critics-after-tense-exchange-with-antony-blinken%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1454791&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1239241756-e1651018727671.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>On Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) questioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Russia\u2019s potential rationale for invading Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span> During the exchange, Blinken \u201cfirmly disagree[d]\u201d with the \u201cproposition\u201d that Russia\u2019s invasions of other countries were justified if they were part of the former Soviet Union, with Paul asking whether the U.S. \u201cagitating\u201d for Ukraine to join NATO in 2021 played a role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Paul was quickly criticized by those who interpreted his argument as a justification for the invasion of Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>His communications director, Kelsey Cooper, further explained Paul\u2019s position to The Daily Wire, saying, \u201c[w]hile there is no justification for Putin\u2019s war on Ukraine, there is an explanation for the invasion, which was the point Dr. Paul was making.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAny other interpretation of the exchange is a blatant attempt to misinform,\u201d Cooper claimed. \u201cAs Dr. Paul has expressed publicly many times before, he has a great deal of sympathy for Ukraine, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/rumble.com\/v12ic2f-dr.-rand-paul-grills-secretary-of-state-anthony-blinken-april-26-2022.html\"><span>clearly stated<\/span><\/a><span> his support for them in his exchange today, saying: \u2018I\u2019m proud of how well the Ukrainians have fought, I\u2019m supportive of their cause.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In a short clip taken from the exchange that was widely circulated on social media, Paul stated, \u201cyou could also argue that the countries [Russia has] attacked were part of Russia,\u201d before correcting himself to say \u201cpart of the Soviet Union.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): \u201cThe countries that have been attacked, Georgia and Ukraine, were part of the Soviet Union \u2026 since the 1920s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Secretary of State Antony Blinken: \u201cThat does not give Russia the right to attack them.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jnlRP6wAsN\">pic.twitter.com\/jnlRP6wAsN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Recount (@therecount) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/therecount\/status\/1518979804011372546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 26, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cI firmly disagree with that proposition,\u201d Secretary Blinken replied. \u201cIt is the fundamental right of these countries to decide their own future and their own destiny.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cBut I\u2019m saying that the countries that have been attacked, Georgia and Ukraine, were part of the Soviet Union \u2026 since the 1920s,\u201d Paul responded, to which Secretary Blinken said, \u201cbut that does not give Russia the right to attack them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cNo one\u2019s saying it does,\u201d Paul interjected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While the complete exchange lasted almost seven minutes, the 39-second clip was quickly condemned by critics online. Charles Booker, a Democrat running against Paul, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/therecount\/status\/1519068905519697924\"><span>accused<\/span><\/a><span> the incumbent senator of being a \u201cpuppet, essentially, for Vladimir Putin,\u201d and \u201ctrying to protect an invasion that has destroyed maternity wards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tedlieu\/status\/1519036336245776387\"><span>implied<\/span><\/a><span> that Paul was arguing that Russia has a right to former members of the Soviet Union.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On social media, a 2017 clip of the late Senator John McCain was also shared, during which he <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/votevets\/status\/1519008389208100864\"><span>accused<\/span><\/a><span> Paul, his then-colleague, of \u201cworking for Vladimir Putin,\u201d following Paul\u2019s objection to a resolution that would permit Montenegro to join Nato.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>McCain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/03\/16\/politics\/john-mccain-rand-paul-rule-19-vladimir-putin\/index.html\">said<\/a> that the \u201cgentleman from Kentucky\u201d and others who may object would be \u201ccarrying out the desires and ambitions of Vladimir Putin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i><span>Ian Haworth is a writer for The Daily Wire and contributor to Morning Wire. Follow him on <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ighaworth\"><i><span>Twitter<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>, <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ighaworth\"><i><span>Facebook<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>, and <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/IanGHaworth\"><i><span>YouTube<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies for breaking news, investigative reporting, sports, podcasts, in-depth analysis, books, and entertainment for a reason: because we believe in what we do. We believe in our country, in the value of truth and the freedom to speak it, and in the right to challenge tyranny wherever we see it. Believe the same?<\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/utm.io\/ueuP8\"><i><span> Become a member now and join our mission<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) questioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Russia\u2019s potential rationale for invading Ukraine. During the exchange, Blinken \u201cfirmly disagree[d]\u201d with the \u201cproposition\u201d that Russia\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":1480611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1454791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1454791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1480611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1454791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1454791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1454791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}