Rand Paul: Dems Should Return Money They Received From Bill Clinton

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a meeting for the Arkansas Republican Party at the Hot Springs Convention Center in Hot Springs, Ark., on Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. Potential presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Rand Paul... Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a meeting for the Arkansas Republican Party at the Hot Springs Convention Center in Hot Springs, Ark., on Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. Potential presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Rand Paul says he believes Republicans could lure young voters if they focus on privacy issues following the revelations about the National Security Agency's surveillance. (AP Photo/The Sentinel-Record, Mara Kuhn) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is ratcheting up his criticism of former President Bill Clinton, suggesting Democratic candidates return any money he helped raise for them in protest of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

“They can’t have it both ways. And so I really think that anybody who wants to take money from Bill Clinton or have a fundraiser has a lot of explaining to do,” Paul said in a C-SPAN “Newsmakers” interview set to air Sunday, as quoted by the Washington Times.

“In fact, I think they should give the money back,” he continued. “If they want to take position on women’s rights, by all means do. But you can’t do it and take it from a guy who was using his position of authority to take advantage of young women in the workplace.”

Paul has repeatedly attacked Clinton for “predatory” sexual behavior over the past couple weeks, each time accusing Democrats of being hypocritical for both championing the former President and claiming to support women’s rights.

But the Kentucky Republican, who is widely considered to have presidential aspirations, has conceded that the Lewinsky scandal “doesn’t really apply” to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton if she decides to run for president in 2016.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) took Paul to task when he first dredged up the ’90s-era affair, accusing him of trying to “show he can be tough” to win a presidential nomination.

“It was a political posturing and, frankly, what Rand Paul doesn’t get is that women want birth control,” she told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell at the time. “What Rand Paul doesn’t get is that women don’t want to be marginalized in the workplace, that we are not yet at the point we need to be in terms of our country and around the world.”

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