Watch: Rand Paul Doesn’t Quite Know How To Feel About Ebola Quarantines

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) seems to be dealing with an internal battle over how to approach quarantines in the U.S. for people who may have been exposed to Ebola.

“It’s a tough question because the Libertarian in me is sort of horrified at indefinitely detaining or detaining anyone without trial,” Paul said on CNN’s “State of the Union” while discussing nurse Kaci Hickox who has been fighting government attempts to enforce a quarantine while she isn’t symptomatic.

Paul said that he supports some restrictions on those who have been near patients with the virus, but he thinks that government should approach it reasonably.

“I think there is a reasonable public concern to say, ‘You know what, you really should be going to the discotheque; you shouldn’t be going to the local bar; you shouldn’t be going to the local school cafeteria, so I think there are reasonable precautions,'” he said. “I think we have to be very careful of people’s civil liberties, but I’m also not saying that the government doesn’t have a role in trying to prevent contagion.”

Watch the clip via CNN:

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: