Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Wednesday defended his fellow Kentucky senator, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), whose conservative record has been questioned by Tea Party challenger Matt Bevin.
“It’s not like we’re talking about Arlen Specter here,” Paul told the Washington Post, referring to the former Pennsylvania senator who left the GOP to become a Democrat. “Senator McConnell has a longstanding conservative record and for an opponent to beat him, they’ll have to prove somehow that he’s not a conservative.”
Paul even defended McConnell’s decision to vote to break Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) filibuster of a clean debt ceiling hike, a move criticized by Bevin and conservative groups.
“Sometimes people don’t always agree on tactics or deals, and I haven’t always agreed with Senator McConnell,” Paul said. “But I was of mixed feelings whether [Cruz’s effort] was worthwhile, if we weren’t going to actually add anything to it, if it was just self-inflicted punishment.”
