In today's "Even a broken clock is right twice a day" news, Republican Senator Rand Paul told Fox News that Republicans should apologize to Obama for their hypocrisy over government spending.
The comments came in response to Republican Senators considering a pandemic relief bill in the trillions of dollars, after they spent eight years casting Obama as a profligate spender.
Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point https://t.co/yyM5WQobYD— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar)1596659276.0
The conversation happened during a segment on the Fox News show Your World with host Neil Cavuto. Of his Republican colleagues, Paul said:
"I'm very upset with my colleagues... They should apologize now to President Obama for complaining that he was spending and borrowing too much. He was a piker compared to their borrowing that they're doing now."
"So, yes, these Republicans, they should have to apologize, and they should, by law, be forbidden from ever saying that they're fiscally conservative."
But when Paul's comments are put into context, they're anything but an endorsement of Obama. Paul's objection isn't to the hypocrisy of his colleagues so much as it is to the spending of money on pandemic relief at all.
"So, we were already running a trillion dollars short just with our normal budgetary expenses for the year. We added $3 trillion. Now they're talking about another $1 trillion to $2 trillion. We're going to borrow $5 trillion in five months."
Paul went on to say that among his biggest objections to pandemic relief is unemployment benefits.
"When you increase the benefits and you pay people, [and] the government pays them more for not working than they were getting for working, you institutionalize unemployment. Even President Obama didn't do that."
Paul made no mention of the astoundingly high rates of job loss due to the pandemic, nor the millions of dollars of May's CARES Act provisions that went to corporations instead of to the small businesses for which it was intended, or that unemployment benefits are partially funded by deductions from Americans' paychecks.
Still, on social media, people were loving that a Republican at least acknowledged his party's hypocrisy.
You ever seen the movie Awakenings? https://t.co/FTOMqWpNbK— MikeFarb (@MikeFarb)1596723510.0
Wow. Rand Paul just went balistic on Republicans (he “forgot” to mention Trump): “they should apologize now to pres… https://t.co/QcG379wvbZ— Republicans for Joe Biden (@Republicans for Joe Biden)1596660026.0
Rand Paul says republicans should apologize to Obama. What is happening? https://t.co/bz5Z9adhaT— She Paints OK Blue 💙 (@She Paints OK Blue 💙)1596661758.0
@theweedcoast @PalmerReport I need Dramamine, or a Exorcist.— Mother Rogue 😷 (Good Trouble) (@Mother Rogue 😷 (Good Trouble))1596667849.0
And many saw something deeper in Rand's comments--namely that they seem to know they're in trouble in the November elections.
@atrupar 2 things: 1) This is his "pivot" moment where he starts distancing himself from Cult 45 before the Novemb… https://t.co/6l7Blx9e3U— DP (@DP)1596659564.0
@atrupar @F8645110320 Yeah; no, not falling for this "about face" or; as I'm calling it, the "Walkback of 2020" We'… https://t.co/Ez7fPJPoxh— Virginia Portillo (@Virginia Portillo)1596717696.0
But many others weren't buying anything Paul was selling.
I find it kind of hypocritical to talk about spending too much after the HUGE TAX BREAK the Republicans gave corpor… https://t.co/4I0AqOS5Ur— Ron Gerberry (@Ron Gerberry)1596667872.0
@atrupar I'm not throwing a parade for that guy when, on the rare occasion, he says something honest somewhat intel… https://t.co/bXtnFkuI8v— Boz (@Boz)1596659627.0
@prestoluh @atrupar Nah. He's worse than the people he's complaining about. He doesn't want to extend the relief bi… https://t.co/s8EGLgtfvW— The Resistance - 8645110320 (@The Resistance - 8645110320)1596662250.0
@KellyIris19 @PalmerReport Yeah, one good deed doesn't make up for a truckload of bad ones.— Liberalgirl3 (@Liberalgirl3)1596661763.0
The $3.4 trillion relief package Rand spoke about is being hotly debated in Congress right now, with 20 Republican Senators vowing to vote down any relief package, even one that were to be agreed upon between Democrats and President Trump.