Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul pointed the finger at both Democrats and Republicans for contributing to America’s “horribly broken” political system during a rally in Seattle Wednesday.
Speaking to a crowd of about 500 supporters, the libertarian-leaning presidential hopeful reportedly blasted establishment politicians for developing an “unholy alliance” inside Congress that has led to uncontrollable federal spending.
“Washington is horribly broken and you ask yourself whose fault is it?” Paul said, according to the Seattle Times. “Well let’s see, Republicans, Democrats — let’s just say everybody in Washington ought to come home and we ought to start over.”
The junior senator from Kentucky, known for his unwavering defense of privacy rights and reluctance to intervene abroad, accused both major political parties of warmongering and ignoring the long-term consequences of getting involved in foreign affairs.
“If you’re eager for war there’s 10 other [candidates] I can recommend,” Paul said. “If you’re eager for war there will always be a Bush or Clinton for you.”
He added, “when we go around the world and search for these monsters to destroy, we don’t think about what comes afterwards.”
Lately, Paul has amplified his attacks against GOP front-runner Donald Trump, and on Wednesday he dismissed the media’s obsession with the brash New York billionaire as “insane.”
“I think it’s hard to have a serious discussion when you have a reality TV star in the mix,” he said. “A lot of it becomes about celebrity and not about substance.”
In comparison to his Republican rival Chris Christie, who has been notably hostile towards relaxed marijuana laws and quarreled with Paul during the first GOP primary debate, Paul vowed to defend Washington’s decision to decriminalize non-medicinal cannabis if elected president.
“I think the government ought to stay out of Washington state’s business and leave you alone,” he said.
“The problem with the Republican Party, and why we don’t win, is we are not for what we are supposed to be for,” Paul said, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Instead, the ophthalmologist-turned-politician said the GOP should be the party that stands for “the right to be left alone.”
Paul joins a handful of GOP contenders who have courted donors in the metropolitan area located on the Pacific Rim. Ahead of Wednesday’s event, the southern senator courted donors in the wealthy Seattle suburb of Bellevue during a private dinner where plates cost $1,000 each, according to a separate report by the Times.
The Kentucky senator has begun reaching for support in Western states after repeatedly registering among the lower-tier Republican candidates in several national and early primary state polls. Paul spent Tuesday campaigning in Alaska and will finish off the week with stops in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.
According to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, Paul is tied with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 4.3 percent support among Republican primary voters nationally.
