{"id":2339385,"date":"2024-09-10T19:34:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T23:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rand-paul-not-backing-trump-despite-rfk-jr-endorsement-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-10T19:37:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T23:37:25","slug":"rand-paul-not-backing-trump-despite-rfk-jr-endorsement-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rand-paul-not-backing-trump-despite-rfk-jr-endorsement-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Rand Paul not backing Trump despite RFK Jr. endorsement &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"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\">24<\/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%2Frand-paul-not-backing-trump-despite-rfk-jr-endorsement-washington-examiner%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=2339385&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--><p>Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has not yet endorsed former President Donald Trump, even after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended \u2062his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democratic-senator-threatens-joe-biden-with-independent-presidential-run-report\/\" title=\"Democratic Senator reportedly threatens independent presidential run against Joe Biden\">independent presidential\u2062 campaign<\/a> and endorsed Trump. While Paul is a prominent supporter of Kennedy, he has expressed concerns that prevent him from fully backing\u200b Trump. He has raised issues regarding national debt\u2063 and \u2062wants clarification\u200b on commitments related to the origins of the coronavirus, suggesting that he would like access to information regarding the \u200dNational Institutes of Health&#8217;s\u2062 knowledge of\u2064 &#8220;gain of \u200bfunction&#8221; research\u200c related\u2063 to COVID-19. Paul \u2064indicated \u200cthat\u2062 he is open to discussions \u2063for an endorsement but emphasized that it is \u2063up to the \u2064Trump campaign to initiate that\u2064 conversation. He remains one \u200bof the \u2063few\u200c Senate Republicans who have not endorsed Trump, reflecting his distinct libertarian approach and concerns\u200b about Trump&#8217;s policies, particularly regarding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/we-got-it-newsmax-reporter-emerald-robinson-national-security-source-confirms-a-piece-of-hardware-has-been-secured-in-germany\/\" title=\"We Got It! - Newsmax Reporter Emerald Robinson: National Security Source Confirms &quot;A Piece of Hardware Has Been Secured&quot; in Germany\">national security<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">RFK Jr. booster Rand Paul still not backing Trump despite endorsement<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1757884\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rand-paul\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Rand Paul<\/a> (R-KY) continues to withhold his endorsement from former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a> despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rfk-jr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a> exiting the presidential race.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Paul is one of Kennedy&rsquo;s most vocal supporters on Capitol Hill, but his decision to suspend his independent run for president and endorse Trump on Aug. 23 has not quite convinced Paul to get off the sidelines.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> on Tuesday that Kennedy&rsquo;s endorsement helps &ldquo;a lot&rdquo; and that he is generally supportive of Trump, but he raised concerns over the debt and wanted assurances a second Trump administration would help him obtain documents on the origins of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We have let the Trump campaign know that we&rsquo;re open to a conversation if they want the endorsement, but the ball is in their court,&rdquo; Paul said.<\/p>\n<p>The demands reflect Paul&rsquo;s unique brand of politics. He is a lifelong Republican, but his libertarian bent has at times put him in conflict with Trump and other GOP leaders.<\/p>\n<p>He voiced concern Trump would appoint another hawkish national security adviser if he wins in November, like he did with John Bolton in 2018, and expressed frustration over the $8 trillion in debt the former president accrued during his four years in office.<\/p>\n<p>But Paul, a leading GOP critic of pandemic-era safety precautions, seemed especially interested in getting help on his investigation into COVID-19. He wants all documents that might shed light on whether the National Institutes of Health understood the risks of &ldquo;gain of function&rdquo; research at the Wuhan, China, lab where Paul believes the coronavirus first originated.<\/p>\n<p>The coronavirus could have also occurred in nature, spreading at a wet market in the same region.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think that there still are answers that we need to hear from NIH, and I think a new president could help,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) pauses to speak to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Paul is part of a small contingent of Senate Republicans who have not endorsed Trump. At least one, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), does not offer endorsements to any candidates, but most holdouts are opposed to his run for president.<\/p>\n<p>Among them, Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have openly said they won&rsquo;t be voting for Trump in November.<\/p>\n<p>Paul, for his part, said the difference between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is &ldquo;night and day.&rdquo; He previously told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that even when Kennedy was in the race, he was never considering endorsing outside the Republican Party.<\/p>\n<p>But that endorsement for Trump won&rsquo;t be coming unless he asks, Paul said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As far as enthusiastically getting out and campaigning, I let the campaign know that if they want to talk, I am persuadable, but I want to hear more,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy&rsquo;s endorsement of Trump was viewed as essential to him winning a slate of swing states where he fought to get his name on the ballot. Kennedy threatened to pull disproportionately from Trump&rsquo;s base of support with his anti-establishment platform and vaccine skepticism.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Paul said he was pleased with some of Trump&rsquo;s proposals, including a government efficiency commission led by X CEO Elon Musk. He also predicted Kennedy joining Trump would mean more input on which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dems-lost-all-credibility-on-social-distancing-after-biden-celebrations\/\" title=\"Dems Lost All Credibility On Social Distancing After Biden Celebrations\">public health officials<\/a> get chosen.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Trump named Kennedy to his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-biden-slapped-with-subpoena-for-records-of-dealings-with-burisma-chinese-companies\/\" title=\"Hunter Biden Slapped with Subpoena for Records of Dealings with Burisma, Chinese Companies\">presidential transition team<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1757884\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1757884\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is still refraining from endorsing former President Donald Trump, even after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the presidential race. Although Paul has been a strong advocate for Kennedy in Congress, he remains on the sidelines despite Kennedy&#8217;s endorsement of Trump on August 23. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Paul acknowledged that Kennedy&#8217;s support is beneficial and expressed general approval of Trump but raised concerns about national debt and sought assurances that a second Trump administration would assist him in obtaining documents related to the origins of COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>Paul indicated that he has communicated to Trump&#8217;s campaign his willingness to discuss an endorsement if they are interested, but emphasized that it is up to them to initiate further dialogue. His reservations reflect his distinct political stance; while he identifies as a lifelong Republican, his libertarian views have occasionally put him at odds with Trump and other GOP leaders. He expressed worries about potential appointments of hawkish national security advisers should Trump win again and voiced frustration over the $8 trillion debt accumulated during Trump&#8217;s presidency.<\/p>\n<p>Particularly focused on investigating COVID-19 origins, Paul seeks access to documents from the National Institutes of Health regarding &#8220;gain-of-function&#8221; research at a lab in Wuhan, China\u2014where he believes the virus may have originated\u2014while acknowledging it could also have emerged naturally from a local wet market.<\/p>\n<p>Paul belongs to a small group of Senate Republicans who have not endorsed Trump; some members like Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) do not endorse any candidates at all, while others such as Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have publicly stated they will not support Trump&#8217;s candidacy in November. However, Paul noted that there is a significant difference between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<p>He previously mentioned that even when Kennedy was still running, he had no intention of endorsing anyone outside the Republican Party but reiterated that any endorsement for Trump would require an invitation from Trump&#8217;s team. While expressing openness to campaigning for him if approached by his campaign team for discussions about endorsements, Paul highlighted some proposals by Trump that he found appealing\u2014including one involving government efficiency led by Elon Musk\u2014and predicted increased influence over public health official selections due to Kennedy\u2019s involvement with Trump&#8217;s transition team following his endorsement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2651,"featured_media":2339386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/rand-paul-rfk-trump-1024x591.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38952,32458,3634],"class_list":["post-2339385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-rand-paul","tag-rfk-jr","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/rand-paul-rfk-trump-1024x591.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339385","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\/2651"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2339385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2339386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2339385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2339385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2339385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}