Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul called New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s criticisms of him “not very smart” during an appearance on Fox News’ Hannity Monday night, adding that disrespect for the Bill of Rights is even more dangerous than the “strain of libertarianism” that Christie had criticized.
“I think what is dangerous in our country is to forget that we have a Bill of Rights,” Paul said, “to forget about privacy, to give up on all of our liberty to say, We’re going to catch terrorism, but you have to live in a police state.”
The two have been engaged in a war of words ever since Christie disparaged “a strain of libertarianism that is going through both parties right now and making big headlines” as “a very dangerous thought” at a forum of the Aspen Institute in Colorado on July 25.
When asked is he was referring to Paul, Christie acknowledged that Paul was one of his targets, for engaging in “esoteric” debates about the conflicts between privacy and national security.
Christie’s remarks characterized such debates as heartless and out of touch with the real costs of terrorism, such as the widows and orphans who lost loved ones in 9/11, many of whom live in New Jersey. Paul dismissed that attack as purely political, however.
“It’s really, I think, kind of sad and cheap that he would use the cloak of 9/11 victims and say, Oh, I’m the only one who cares about these victims. Hogwash,” Paul said.
Paul sought to turn the tables on Christie by drawing attention to his requests for aid from Washington in the wake of Hurricane Sandy last fall: “If he cared about protecting this country, maybe he wouldn’t be in this give me, give me, give me all of the money you have in Washington or don’t have,” Paul said.
The much-publicized feud between the two is emblematic of a larger debate among Republicans over the party’s future, with freshman Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah joining Paul to form a core of upstart constitutionalists who have openly disagreed with more orthodox party members like Christie and New York Rep. Peter King.
Given that many of those mentioned above may be entertaining thoughts of 2016 presidential campaigns, the skirmishes seem unlikely to stop soon.