Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who will rejoin seven other Republican presidential hopefuls on the main GOP debate stage Thursday night, said Wednesday that Donald Trump’s absence from the debate will benefit both his opponents and viewers.
“It’s an improvement to the debate,” Paul told Fox News. “The IQ of the debate went up a couple dozen points.”
“I think it’s probably a good thing for the party,” Paul added. “It shows sort of his delusions of grandeur, that he think he gets to dictate everything. He thinks he’s already elected himself king. So I’d say good riddance, and I’d say we’re going to have a much better debate.”
Paul himself skipped the last GOP debate after he was relegated to the undercard event due to low poll numbers. But now, with Trump out and a spot in the primetime event, the Kentucky senator is on cloud nine.
“Not only am I on the main stage … we don’t have to put up with a lot of empty blather and boastfulness and calling people names,” Paul said, adding, “I think we’ll actually have the best debate that we’ve had.”
Paul will arrive in Des Moines, where the debate is being held, later this evening, after a vote in the Senate.
“The taxpayers pay me, and so I try to show up for work,” he said.
