Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said in a recent interview that he’d “look at” a planned U.S. military training exercise that conspiracy theorists believe may be a cover for the implementation of martial law.
Des Moines, Iowa radio host Jan Mickelson asked the Republican presidential candidate in an April 21 interview whether he was up to speed on the training exercise dubbed “Jade Helm” that’s scheduled to take place in several southwestern states.
“You know I’ve gotten a few questions about it on the road and I really don’t—” Paul responded. “I’m not sure about exactly what is going on with that.”
“It’s making some people nervous, but it doesn’t take much to make people nervous nowadays,” Mickelson said. “If you get a chance to, I’d like to know what the rest of the story is on that.”
“We’ll look at that also,” Paul assured him.
A spokesman for Paul did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TPM on Thursday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Tuesday asked the State Guard to monitor the exercise when it happens in order to ensure “that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed.”
