Rand Paul stumbles with press on Baltimore reaction

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and his campaign staff were forced to backtrack in the press this week, after he seemed to gloss over the violence being seen in Baltimore after a black man died shortly after being apprehended by police.

Paul appeared on the Laura Ingraham show on Tuesday, and noted that he traveled through Baltimore Monday night when major rioting broke out.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and his campaign staff admitted this week that he may have too quickly glossed over the rioting in Baltimore while on a radio show Tuesday. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

"I came through the train on Baltimore last night," Paul said. "I'm glad the train didn’t stop."

Politico on Thursday called Paul's response "breezy," sand said Paul's campaign staff later admitted it was something of a blunder.

"We recognize how it may have sounded to some people," Paul's senior adviser Elroy Sailor told the publication. "We're listening and learning every day and we learned from this. We're also leading this conversation."

Paul also explained the Baltimore riots by pointing to "the breakdown of the family structure, the lack of fathers, the lack of sort of a moral code in our society." But that comment led to a Washington Post analysis that said Paul was oversimplifying the issue.

The Post story did say that black fathers were "most likely not to live with their children." However, it said the number of single-parent households have increased across all races, and argued that "black fathers who didn't live with their children were as engaged with their kids as were white and Hispanic fathers."

Freddie Gray's spine was nearly severed after being arrested by police in Baltimore, and his death soon afterwards is what prompted more questions about police brutality, and rioting in the city this week. However, some information leaked from the ongoing investigation suggests that Gray may have injured himself on purpose while riding in the back of the police van.