In his interview with NBC’s David Gregory on “Meet the Press” Sunday morning, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) explained why Benghazi presents an impassable hurdle for Hillary Clinton should she decide to run for the 2016 presidency.
Unlike others who focus on former UN Ambassador Susan Rice’s Benghazi “talking points,” Paul sees former secretary of State Clinton’s failure to provide adequate security at the U.S. consulate in Libya as the true red flag in the Benghazi scandal.
“Benghazi is not a political question for me,” the Kentucky senator told David Gregory. “To me, it’s not the talking points. That’s never been the most important part of Benghazi. It’s the six months leading up to Benghazi where there were multiple requests for more security and it never came. This was under Hillary Clinton’s watch. She will have to overcome that and we will make her answer for Benghazi.”
Later, when asked how Clinton will be made to “pay” for Benghazi if she runs for president, Paul said the American people will need her to explain how she will successfully preside over the country as commander in chief if she can’t even respond to “multiple requests” for beefed up security in Libya a good six months before the attack on the U.S. consulate that killed four Americans.
He also added that Clinton authorized other significant expenditures — such as $650,000 for Facebook advertising and $5 million on crystal glassware in the summer of 2012 — but didn’t have the reasoning to put some money toward protection in Benghazi.
“She wouldn’t approve a 16-person personnel team and she wouldn’t approve an airplane to help them get around the country,” the senator detailed. “In the last 24 hours, a plane was very important, and it wasn’t available. These are really serious questions beyond talking points that occurred under her watch.”
When asked if the scandal is “disqualifying” for Hillary Clinton in terms of fighting for the presidency, Paul replied, “I think so.”
“American people want a commander in chief that will send reinforcements, that will defend the country, and that will provide the adequate security,” he asserted. “I think in the moment of need, a long moment, a six-month moment, she wasn’t there.”
Watch the full interview below.
