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Sen. Rand Paul believes Republicans face a tougher policy argument against socialists who promise free benefits, as the GOP offers opportunity and freedom.
Paul warns that inflation, the trade war, and the Iran war are creating an affordability crunch, which could pose challenges for Republicans in the upcoming election.
To win in battleground states, Paul advises Republican candidates to oppose the trade war with Canada and push for an end to the Iran war, rather than solely relying on anti-socialist rhetoric.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. (Getty Images)
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Newsmax on Tuesday that Republicans have the “more difficult” policy argument to make because socialists promise free benefits while the GOP offers opportunity and freedom.
On “Ed Henry The Big Take,” Paul said that “our argument has always been more difficult. They will offer you a free car, a free lunch, free college, free healthcare.”
“And what Republicans are offering is so much better, but it’s intangible. We’re offering opportunity and freedom, the idea to practice your own religion, the idea to own a gun, the idea to be free from a government search, the Bill of Rights,” he said.
Asked whether socialists gaining power would drive the national debt higher, Paul said: “They’re telling you it’s going to be free. It’s not going to cost anything.”
Asked about Federal Reserve policy, Paul said that “inflation is slower than it was under [fomer President Joe] Biden,” but “what people have to remember, and I think what many Republicans are forgetting, is inflation is cumulative.”
“So the 20% that your prices went up under Biden are still there,” he said. “And so if you make $50,000 a year now, and you made $50,000 a year five years ago, you are poor.”
Paul said inflation, the trade war, and the Iran war — which he blamed for higher diesel, gasoline, and fertilizer costs — are a “triple whammy.”
“That’s this affordability crunch. And if Republicans don’t address it, I think they are going to have trouble in the election,” he said.
Asked whether Republicans can hold the Senate, Paul said: “If you’re in a battleground state and you’re running for office, you need to tell the people that the trade war with Canada is a mistake and you’re opposed to it. You need to tell people the Iran war needs to stop as soon as possible.
“If you can say that, and if you are sincere, I think you have a chance,” he said.
But Paul warned that “in many of these states where I see the numbers going the opposite way, if you just go out there and say, ‘Vote for me, the other people are worse, you know, they’re socialist, and we’re less socialist,’ I don’t know if it’s enough.”
In a social media post on Monday, Paul wrote that “the far-left agenda of regulating everything and growing government will keep groceries and gas expensive, then make them even worse.”
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