Though MSNBC’s Chris Matthews predicted in 2013 that Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., would be the 2016 GOP nominee, the Kentucky lawmaker made it only so far as the Iowa caucus.
“You watch,” Matthews said three years ago, as noted by the Washington Free Beacon. “This is what I do for a living.”
Paul announced Wednesday morning that he’d suspend his presidential bid, which failed for the entirety of its run to catch any real momentum.
“It’s been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House,” the senator said in a statement. “Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of Liberty.”
Matthews predicted in 2013 that the GOP would take a hard right turn and choose Paul as its nominee.
“I believe the Republican Party is going to go hard-right in 2016. It’s going to run someone from the growing hard-right wing of the party, something it hasn’t done since 1980,” the cable news host said.
“They put up with George Bush the First, put up with Bob Dole, were deeply disappointed with the big spending George W., and last year again by Mitt Romney, and now are going to come loaded for bear for the race for 2016,” he added. “So I predict the hard right is going to take over the Republican Party in 2016, and the nomination is going to Rand Paul. You watch. This is what I do for a living.”
