Two fully grown, elected members of the United States Congress have spent two days fighting on Twitter over who loves President Donald Trump more.
Since at least Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Liz Cheney, both Republicans, have been trading barbs online (and on television) over foreign policy and who is in better standing with Trump.
The shameless spat began when Paul shared a week-old Washington Examiner op-ed from Wyoming state legislators telling Cheney to “stop carping at Trump for rejecting endless war.”
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“I agree! Why do some neocons continue to advocate for endless wars? I stand with @realdonaldtrump on ending wars,” the libertarian senator added in light of the firing of hawkish national-security chief John Bolton. “Let’s focus on America First, not Afghanistan!”
Paul’s shot at Cheney was also likely spurred on by the Wyoming congresswoman’s mild criticism earlier this week of the president’s Camp David invitation to the Taliban, which was scheduled days before the anniversary of 9/11.
Cheney, meanwhile, quickly fired back by noting that while she stands with Trump and “our men and women in uniform who will never surrender to terrorists,” Paul “seems to have forgotten that today is 9/11.”
Paul restarted the slap-fight on Thursday morning, insisting the president recognized Cheney’s “NeverTrump warmongering” and “pro-Bolton blathering.”
“I’m just grateful for a president who, unlike you, supports stopping these endless wars,” he added.
In response to Paul’s jab, Cheney fired back by reminding the libertarian-leaning senator that he was trounced by Trump in the 2016 Republican primary. She also quoted an old tweet in which Trump attacked Paul, dubbing him “truly weird.”
“Hi @RandPaul I know the 2016 race was painful for you since you were such a big loser (then & now) with a dismal 4.5% in Iowa,” she tweeted in Trumpian fashion. “No surprise since your motto seems to be ‘Terrorists First, America Second.’”
Not to be outdone, Paul replied by taking a shot at the congresswoman’s father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, a notoriously hawkish Republican like his daughter.
“Hey @Liz_Cheney I feel like you might just be mad still about when Candidate Trump shredded your Dad’s failed foreign policy and endless wars,” he tweeted, attaching a recap from the 2016 GOP primary debates.
“Weird. I don’t see you on stage here, @RandPaul,” Cheney shot back minutes later. “Oh, right. My bad - you had already lost. #weirdRand”
From there, Paul absolutely unloaded in a seeming effort to get the last word in vying for Trump’s affirmation, firing off a tweetstorm taking aim at the Cheney family:
Not content on keeping this battle royale for Trump’s love contained to Twitter, Paul also appeared Thursday afternoon to take it to the airwaves.
CNN anchor Brianna Keilar, however, confronted Paul head-on and mocked the senator to his face.
“Do you worry this is devolving a bit into this butt-kissing contest that’s a little unbecoming of two members of Congress?” Keilar asked.
And as if this spat couldn’t get any more insufferable, members of Paul’s and Cheney’s staffs got involved in the online dog-pile. In response to a Politico reporter snarking that the two sparring lawmakers will eventually have make-up luncheons, Cheney aide Natalie Johnson tweeted: “My boss doesn’t sit at the kid’s table.” Paul’s chief strategist Doug Stafford fired back: “Sure she does. What do you think the House is?”
