Rep. Peter King Calls Rand Paul's Praise of Edward Snowden 'Madness

Rep. Peter King on Sunday continued his criticism of fellow Republican Rand Paul, blasting the Kentucky senator's praise of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden as "madness."

AP

“When you have Rand Paul actually comparing Snowden to Martin Luther King or Henry David Thoreau, this is madness, this is the anti-war left-wing Democrats of the 1960s that nominated George McGovern and destroyed their party for almost 20 years,” the New York congressman said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I don't want that happening to our party."

King said it was "disgraceful" that 94 GOP representatives voted unsuccessfully to defund the NSA's data collection program last week.

“I thought it was absolutely disgraceful that so many Republicans voted to defund the NSA program, which has done so much to protect our country,” he said. “This is an isolation streak that's in our party. It goes totally against the party of Eisenhower and Reagan, Bush. I mean we are a party of national defense. We're a party who did so much to protect the country over the last 12 years."

King said earlier this month he was considering a 2016 presidential bid to try to block GOP "isolationists" Rand Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

--

[related]