Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger said on ABC’s “This Week” that a presidential run by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul would be “devastating” for the GOP, given Paul’s history of pushing for military cuts.
You know, I think on 2016 by the way I’d love to see Jeb [Bush], I’d love to see Chris Christie, and Paul Ryan would be a great candidate. The one person I don’t want to see is someone like Rand Paul who put out budgets to cut the military in half. I think that would be devastating for our party right now on national security.
UPDATE: Senator Paul’s staff has pushed back against Kinzinger’s claim that Paul put forward a budget cutting the military in half. In an emailed statement, Senior Advisor Doug Stafford called the claim “simply false… Senator Rand Paul’s budget plan restored cuts in defense made in the sequester and increased defense spending by $25 billion in the first year and $125 billion over the next decade. Senator Paul has always supported providing the Department of Defense with all the funding they need to protect our country.”
In addition, fact-checking website Politifact has rated Kinzinger’s claim False. They noted that Paul released budget proposals that included defense spending cuts, “but not anywhere near 50 percent…” and later released proposals that would increase year-over-year defense spending.