Rand Paul’s friendship with RFK Jr. may threaten his promised endorsement of Trump – Washington Examiner

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has not decided whether to endorse former President Donald Trump for president a third time, and his relationship with another presidential candidate looks to complicate matters.

A source told the Washington Free Beacon that in recent months, “Paul has cozied up to third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” though he reportedly promised the Trump campaign his endorsement earlier this year.

They have reportedly had several closed-door meetings and share the services of Paul’s chief strategist, Doug Stafford, who received money for his advisement of the Kennedy campaign.The Washington Examiner contacted Paul and the Kennedy campaign to confirm the report but did not receive a response.

Outside of a social media post the Kennedy campaign made in January showing the independent posing with Paul and his book, and a separate post in which the Kentucky senator endorsed Kennedy’s book as well, Paul has continued to pay attention to the third-party candidate.

Had a wonderful talk with @RandPaul this morning about issues we share in common — restoring free speech and ending forever wars, chronic disease epidemics, agency capture, and government waste. pic.twitter.com/VwdQSHBH45

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) January 10, 2024

The two appear to be strongly linked in their vaccine opinions, and Paul posted more about Kennedy than Trump on X in April, with a few posts showing his admiration.

Paul agreed with Kennedy’s challenge of the TikTok ban.

And he also seemingly agreed with Kennedy’s negative stance toward U.S. involvement in Ukraine.

But one key statement from Paul further indicates his preference for president could be murky. He posted about his appearance on Kennedy’s podcast, in which the pair talked extensively about COVID-19, the vaccine, and former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci.

“I’ve been an opponent of you on some issues, but a great admirer always, always for your integrity, for your fearless championship of civil rights, constitutional rights, for your outspokenness about the military-industrial complex, and about the U.S. addiction to war,” Kennedy said.

“You and I have found ourselves very, very close together since the beginning of COVID on so many issues. … I have nothing but admiration for you,” he continued.

At one point, Kennedy asked Paul if he thought Fauci and others would face prosecution in relation to COVID-19.

“I think it will require another president,” Paul said, declining to specify. “… But I think it’s going to take a different president, somebody that will appoint people that are free of conflicts to actually be in charge of this.”

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Paul is a strong critic of President Joe Biden and has yet to follow through on a promised endorsement of Trump, suggesting he might be contemplating endorsing the third-party candidate.

In another post detailing his opinions of presidential candidates in January, Paul said “there’s a lot to like there” about Trump, that he was a “big fan” of the fiscal conservatism Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) exhibited, and mentioned Vivek Ramaswamy and Kennedy. The only stance he took in the post was his condemnation of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, calling himself “never Nikki.”

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