Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul suggested that GOP candidates attack Trump if they want to win the nomination on Tuesday’s edition of “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
Watters pointed out that Paul has been featured in many debates in the past, and asked if the senator has any advice for the new slate of GOP candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sens. Tim Scott and Nikki Haley. Paul reflected on his past experience debating against Donald Trump and said that he was dealing with similar conflicts to the current candidates. (RELATED: Pro-Trump PAC Trolls GOP Rivals With ‘Vice Presidential Debate’ Website)
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“You know, it’s funny. The same sort of strategies coming up now ‘Do you attack Trump or you don’t attack Trump?'” Paul said, “So, when I was in the debate there were 16 on the stage, and I was in the far periphery and my staff said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t attack Trump.’ And so, the very first question, what do I do? I attack Trump,” Paul said.
Paul explained that candidates standing at the far periphery often don’t get as many questions or opportunities to talk during the debate. Therefore, the best way for less popular candidates to make a splash is to go after the frontrunner.
“So, I go against all the logic that people say, ‘Don’t attack the front-runner because he’s popular.’ Sure, he’s popular. But, there will be things that you have to argue that you can do better than Trump, and if you can’t make that argument, you don’t have a chance. So my advice is: Go after the frontrunner. It will be more interesting, anyway,” Paul added.
Former President Donald Trump, the current GOP frontrunner, is planning on skipping the debate. Trump recently sat down for an interview with Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson which will air during the debate.