Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) unloaded on Republican presidential rival Donald Trump over the weekend, calling him a "fake conservative" and vowing not to allow him to "destroy" the Tea Party movement that helped bolster the junior senator to national fame.
In an opinion piece on IJ Review, Paul took Trump to task over the billionaire's stance on money in politics and his view on health care, among other things.
AP Photo/Molly Riley
"It makes me sad to think that Tea Party awakening could be hijacked or hoodwinked by a guy who supported the bank bailouts, supported Obamacare and continues to support the Clintons," Paul wrote.
"I was there at the first Tea Party in 2007 and I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand passively by and watch the movement destroyed by a fake conservative," he added.
Paul pointed out that Trump, who leads among Republican primary voters in most polls by double digits, was first a Republican, then became an independent, then a Democrat and more recently, a Republican again.
"Trump has paid over $1.5 million to politicians from both sides of the aisle, from Harry Reid to Rahm Emanuel to Jeb Bush," Paul wrote. "The majority of his donations were to Democrats until a few years ago when he began thinking more seriously of making a play for the Republican nomination."
Paul then posed one rhetorical question: Why has Trump given so much money to candidates of both political parties?
"Big Government and Big Business get in bed together, and the ordinary taxpayer ends up with the short end of the stick while our country is driven deeper into debt," Paul asserted, calling out Trump for recently saying that when you give to political candidates, "they do whatever the hell you want them to do.”
Paul drew parallels between Trump giving to candidates and Hillary Clinton "sell[ing] access" to foreign governments during her tenure as Secretary of State through her family's charitable fund, the Clinton Foundation.
"Isn’t it equally despicable for people like Trump to buy access?" Paul challenged.
(H/T: IJ Review)
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