Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., defended President Trump on Monday from accusations of racism and said the former billionaire businessman has a history of donating to the former physician’s medical trips to help the people of Haiti and Central America.
“All these crazy, over the top criticisms or accusations against the president don’t fit with the president that I know,” Paul told Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”
“When I went to Haiti a few years ago, I went on a medical mission trip and we did cataract surgery for about 200 people who were largely blind before their surgery. I asked for donations before I went on the trip and one of them was [from] a businessman Donald J. Trump who not only helped with the trip to Haiti but helped with a previous trip we took to Central America,” Paul said.
Paul said Trump’s alleged comments that Haiti, African countries, and possibly El Salvador are “shithole countries” does not represent the man he has come to know.
He added that following his defense of Trump, he was deemed a racist by people who did not know him.
“I mentioned these medical mission trips on a Sunday morning program, Twitter was filled with hatred toward me, wishing me violence. I’ll betcha I read two dozen tweets wishing me violence. I read couple dozen more calling me a racist. It really doesn’t make the dialogue any better in our country,” Paul said.
“Look, I have honestly debated the president,” Paul added. “I have opposed some of his appointments. I opposed overreach on [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] and other intelligence. I have honest disagreements with the president. But I think calling him names and letting it degenerate to the schoolyard stuff doesn’t do anybody any good.”
