It’s only May 2015, and Republican presidential hopefuls are already sparring ahead of the 2016 election.
During his remarks at the Iowa Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday night in Des Moines, GOP presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (Kent.) dealt a blow to likely opponent Jeb Bush for fumbling questions about the Iraq War, as reports Politico.
“We had a question this week that was asked to a certain candidate who used to be the governor of Florida who’s running in the Republican primary,” Paul told the crowd. “And the question was: Knowing what you know now do you think it was a good idea to topple Hussein, to begin the war in Iraq?”
“He fumbled around, and I think he had four or five different questions on four or five different days,” the Kentucky senator continued. “But one of his responses was a very defensive response: ‘Well, that’s hypothetical. What would that have to do with this election?’ I think the question has everything to do with this election.”
Bush was initially asked by Fox News’ Megyn Kelly in an interview that aired last week whether he would have authorized the Iraq invasion knowing what we know today, an inquiry to which he responded in the affirmative.
The former Florida governor has since walked back his statement, insisting days later that he would not have authorized the invasion with today’s knowledge.
After Paul left the stage in Iowa, South Carolina Republican Sen. Linsey Graham — who said Monday that he is running for president because “the world is falling apart” — jumped to Bush’s defense.
During his remarks, Graham made a point to blame the chaos in Iraq on President Obama, not former President George W. Bush.
He also mocked Paul for insisting that the federal government should “call a lawyer” to obtain a warrant in advance of arresting terrorists instead of illegally spying on them.
“I’m not going to call a judge,” Graham declared. “I’m going to call a drone and kill you.”
Graham and Paul have been involved in a squabble for quite some time. While the South Carolina lawmaker has criticized Paul’s “isolationist” world view and accused him of “focusing on kids who smoke dope in their parents’ basement” ahead of the 2016 election, the Kentucky senator has labeled Graham a “lapdog” for President Obama’s foreign policy.
It’s going to be an interesting year.
