Rand Paul, the Republican senator from Kentucky and famous libertarian contrarian, explained why he still hasn’t endorsed former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Paul said he was “supportive” of the Republican nominee, but explained that he was holding back his endorsement due to concerns about the national debt.
“I’m a deficit hawk,” Paul told the program. “The Trump administration added $8 trillion. The Biden administration is going to add $8 trillion. This year, we’re going to add another $2 trillion.”
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But Paul also voiced his opposition to the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, specifically criticizing her proposed tax increase on unrealized capital gains—which he called “not only moronic, it’s so destructive that… she should be disqualified from any thoughtful person considering her.”
Harris has proposed a 28% tax on unrealized capital gains for Americans earning more than $1 million per year. Her campaign’s platform says the tax plan is designed to “ensure the wealthiest Americans and the largest corporations pay their fair share, so we can take action to build up the middle class while reducing the deficit.”
The Kentucky senator continued to rattle off a list of issues he had disagreements with Trump about—mostly concerning his administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As Trump left office, he was advocating for $2,500 checks again passed out to everybody. I’m not for that,” Paul said. The libertarian was one of only six Republicans to vote against the relief package passed in December 2020, which included stimulus checks for businesses and individuals.
In a press release from 2020, Paul again cited the national debt as his reasoning for voting against the spending package. “The answer is not printing up and distributing ‘free money.’ It’s opening the economy.”
Paul repeated this sentiment on Tuesday. “I was against the lockdowns, and I want to hear stronger language in that sense. I also want to get to the bottom of the funding of the research at Wuhan,” referring to the inquiry he launched as the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee earlier this year.
“My investigation hangs in the lurch, and I want a promise, frankly, from Donald Trump that he will continue, allow me to do that investigation, and he will sign legislation that I have written that will regulate gain of function research,” Paul said.
The day before, Paul told Semafor that “my enthusiasm has flagged a little” for the Republican nominee, again citing his record on the national debt. He also criticized the last Trump administration’s record on American military interventions—specifically criticizing his picking of John Bolton as National Security Advisor, who served in the White House position from 2018 through September 2019.
