Sen. Rand Paul touted President Trump as a president who pushed important legislation across the finish line and took steps to pull troops out of Afghanistan. Trump has committed to withdrawing half of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by November.
“If you hate wars like I hate war, or if you want us to quit sending $50 billion every year to Afghanistan to build their roads and bridges, instead of building them here at home, you need to support President Trump for another term,” Paul, a Kentucky Republican who initially ran against Trump in the 2016 presidential primary, said Tuesday.
Paul is a staunch ally of Trump’s in the Senate but does not hesitate to break with the president if he disagrees with him.
Paul told the Republican National Committee Tuesday, “President Trump gets things done,” including tax cuts, creating associated health plans to lower insurance costs, and criminal justice reform.
Paul criticized former Vice President Joe Biden, who voted for a crime bill that lengthened prison sentences and particularly impacted black men, who languish in prison today for nonviolent crimes.
Trump helped negotiate and later signed a criminal justice reform act that reforms strict sentencing laws and provides a path to rehabilitation for the incarcerated.
“While others talked about criminal justice reform, President Trump actually signed the First Step Act, the first real reform in a generation, and one that sought to undo the harm that others like Joe Biden have done,” Paul said. “For those of us who lament the Biden crime bill that locked up a generation of young black men, remember that Biden bragged about a bill that still wreaks havoc among people of color.”
Paul also sought to humanize Trump, whom Democrats and critics often accuse of acting without empathy.
Paul described a trip with Trump to Dover Air Force Base to meet the remains of two soldiers returning from Afghanistan.
“I’ll never forget that evening,” Paul said. “I can tell you the president not only felt the pain of these families, but the president is committed to ending this war. President Trump is the first president in a generation to seek to end war, rather than start one. He intends to end the war in Afghanistan. He’s bringing our men and women home.”
