Donald Trump Complains About Having to Debate “Ineffective” Rand Paul

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:12 pm

Donald Trump continued the Neanderthal routine this weekend with a barrage of attacks on his rival Rand Paul yesterday afternoon.

Fox News reports that speaking at a rally “at a Saturday rally in Boone, Iowa, Trump blasted Paul as being an ‘ineffective guy’ and weak on immigration and national security issues.”

This was prompted Thursday by Paul saying on Hannity,

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“I don’t really think there’s anything conservative about him and I think he’s selling us a bill of goods. And so I think we need to be very careful that we don’t succumb to celebrity and all of the sudden get a fake conservative that turns out to be a big government Republican.”

You know, like Ronald Reagan. And George W. Bush. And pretty much every other Republican president in recent history, because “small government” Republicans are as mythological as Sarah Palin’s unicorns.

Trump also let loose on Twitter, and this is where Trump really let’s his childish ire show. He began with the suggestion Paul should stick to Kentucky:

He followed this by complimenting Ron Paul while saying the critical gene didn’t get passed down from father to son:

Worse yet, rather than suggesting Carly Fiorina was a candidate too many (she was #11 in rankings when the debate order was decided), he claimed that honor fell to Rand Paul instead:

In other words, why do I, with my 30 percent, even have to debate this guy who has only 2?

No, not a lot of love there from Trump for his fellow candidates, all the while dismayed they are taking swipes at him.

Jimmy Fallon missed an opportunity Friday night to pin Trump down on what sets him apart other than vague talking points and Trump telling everyone how great he is and how dumb everyone else is. “To me, they’re all the same,” he told Fallon. “But what makes you different?” somebody needs to ask Trump.

Jimmy Fallon may have outscored Stephen Colbert in the ratings battle, 4.5 million to 3.5 million viewers, by interviewing Trump, but there is no comparing the two interviews.

Colbert gave a clinic on political interviews while Fallon took it easy on Trump, traded jokes with him, and let Trump turn the Tonight Show, as Fallon himself joked, into “The Tonight Show starring Donald Trump, featuring a guest appearance by Jimmy Fallon.”

The Washington Post had a different take on the interview altogether, suggesting we saw a different Trump on Fallon, perhaps “Trump 2.0.”

It seems clear, however, that yesterday’s comments and tweets show that nothing has changed. Expect sparks to fly between the two men at Wednesday night’s debate on CNN at 8 p.m. ET.

And don’t give up hope for a real Trump interview, you know, the one mainstream news outlets – and Fallon – have yet to provide. Stephen Colbert hosts Trump on his “Late Show” September 22. The only difference for Trump between now and then will be that there will likely be fewer fellow Republicans for Trump to attack.

Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.