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Senator Rand Paul (0:32)
the
WNYC Studios Announcer (0:32)
New Yorker Radio Hour is a co production of WNYC and the New Yorker.
David Remnick (0:39)
Welcome to the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. There was a time when libertarians in politics seemed extreme somehow, their concerns esoteric. The core libertarian principle of a small, even minimal government aligned with the Republican platform, but just to a degree. At the same time, libertarians have often taken a very distinct approach on civil liberties and many other social issues. But as Donald Trump tries to impose a more and more authoritarian style of government, one of the most consistent critics within his party has been Rand Paul, the libertarian leaning senator from the state of Kentucky. Senator Paul was the sole Republican to vote in favor of restricting Trump's power to prosecute war in Iran, one of the few remaining deficit hawks. He's bucked Donald Trump's priorities on tariffs, funding the Iran war, and the ballooning budget for ice. During a fight over the tax bill last year, Trump said, rand Paul, quote, loves voting no on everything. He's called him a sick wacko. Rand Paul ran for president in 2016, and he may well be a contender in 2028. And we spoke this past week, Senator, we're going to talk at some length about the war in Iran and about President Trump. But before I engage the war itself, it's not gone unnoticed in a lot of circles, whether left, right or center, that the nature of the things that the president has said and how he said it, whether it's about wiping out a civilization of 92 million people or just how he's conducted himself in the course of these wars, has been very worrying to a lot of people, whether in the Republican Party or Democratic Party. What is your sense of his behavior, his utterances, his language? Are you confident in his ability to carry out his office?
Senator Rand Paul (2:43)
You know, I think when we talk about diplomacy or how you achieve peace after you're at war, there are a lot of people who have commented over time things that are necessary. You know, one is to recognize that your enemy or your adversary needs A way to save face. They need a way to come to peace. And that if you insult them or make this about a religious nature or that, you know, make this about unconditional sort surrender or an absolute desolation of a civilization, that it makes it harder for an enemy to come to peace. And I think most of the things that I've heard that trouble me and worry me about trying to find peace in Iran is that, you know, people quoting the Old Testament about smiting the enemy. If this becomes Christians versus Muslims, I don't see a quick end to a war. I see a war that if you're a religious zealot and people tell you that we're attacking you because of who you are, or they mock your religion, I think it makes it much more difficult to find peace. And I want peace, the sooner the better, for many different reasons. And so my advice would be that talk is good, diplomacy is good, but if I want something from you, I wouldn't start out by insulting you or I wouldn't continue to provoke you by saying something about your religion. We're unlikely to find peace. So I think these things all make peace less likely and make war more likely for a lot of people.
