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{{Officeholder/senator |state=Kentucky

:''Rand Paul was [[Conservative of the Year 2010|Conservative of the Year]] in 2010and the first runner-up in 2021''.'''Randal Howard “Rand” Paul''', born January 7, 1963 (age {{age|1963|1|7}}), is the anti-[[establishment]], fiscally and socially [[conservative]] [[United States Senator]] from [[Kentucky]] who was elected in [[2010 Midterm Elections|2010]] and reelected by a landslide in 2016. He is critical of federal spending, opposes an interventionalist foreign policy, and rejects the tendency by calls from [[neocon]]s for perpetual war. Paul is a [[movement conservative]] and a potential future presidential candidate, initially running in 2016. The junior senator He was a leader for the repeal of [[ObamaCare]]. He is the most a prominent defender of President [[President Trump]] in the [[U.S. Senate]] on certain issues, particularly in support of Trump's focus on putting [[America first First]], rather than intervening in foreign countries.<ref>Moran, Sean (August 14, 2018). [https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/08/14/rand-paul-russia-trip-great-success-citizens-prefer-america-first-nation-building/ Exclusive — Rand Paul: Russia Trip a ‘Great Success’; U.S. Citizens Prefer America First to Nation-Building]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved August 14, 2018.</ref>. '''''Rand Paul announced his candidacy for [[GOP]] Senate Leader''''' on March 9, 2024.Previously Sen. Rand Paul was one of only 8 [[Republican]] senators to decline sign a letter to [[Biden]] that would escalate the [[Russia Ukraine conflict 2022|Russia-Ukraine conflict]] by sending fighter jets to [[Ukraine]].<ref>https://news.yahoo.com/gop-senators-demand-u-help-131427064.html</ref>

Sen. Paul lives in [[Bowling Green, Kentucky]]. In November of 2017, he was the victim of a cowardly attack by an irate [[Democratic Party|DemocraticDemocrat]] neighbor, Rene Boucher, who trespassed on Sen. Paul's yard, snuck up behind him, and violently broke five of his ribs. The shameful attack caused lung contusions which required removal of part of Sen. Paul's his lungs, and also facial injuries. Sen. Paul He was peacefully mowing his lawn at the time of the attack. Police initially charged the perpetrator, who reportedly admitted to attacking Paul, with merely fourth-degree assault despite the seriousness of the injuries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/11/more-on-the-democrats-assault-on-rand-paul.php|title=More on the Democrat’s Assault on Rand Paul|author=John Hinderacker|publisher=Powerlineblog.com|accessdate=November 5, 2017}}</ref> . A federal charge were was then filed against the assailant, who pled guilty , but was then sentenced to merely 30 days in jail, which is far below sentencing guidelines and which the [[Department of Justice]] has appealed for being too lenient.

Amidst the second Democrat attempt to impeach and convict [[Donald Trump]] in January 2020 of 2021 over mostly false accusations that he's supposedly directly was responsible for the [[2021 Capitol riot]], Paul introduced an amendment to declare the [[sham impeachment ]] as unconstitutional, which ultimately was defeated by a 55–45 vote; [[anti-Never Trump]]ers [[Mitt Romney]], [[Ben Sasse]], [[Susan Collins]], [[Lisa Murkowski]] and [[Pat Toomey]] joined all Senate Democrats in voting against it.<ref>Carney, Jourdain (January 26, 2021). [https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/535925-senate-rejects-paul-effort-to-declare-trump-impeachment-trial Just five GOP senators vote Trump impeachment trial is constitutional]. ''The Hill''. Retrieved January 26, 2021.</ref>.

Paul was born in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], to U. His father is S. Congressman [[Ron Paul]]and his wife Carol. ''Rand Paul was '''''not''''' named after the objectivist and libertarian author [[Ayn Rand]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD-R_OeP6tU</ref>.''

In 2010, he won the Republican primary after defeating the more moderate candidate [[Trey Grayson]] by a landslide. Despite intense opposition by [[liberals]] and the [[lamestream media]], Rand Paul won by an overwhelming margin first against a [[RINO]] Republican favored by the establishment, and then against [[Democrat]] [[Jack Conway]] in the [[2010 Midterm Election]]Midterms. This was the seat formerly held by [[Jim Bunning]], one of the [[Essay:Greatest Conservative Sports Stars|greatest conservative sports stars]], who endorsed Paul in the Republican primary.

In March 2013, Rand led a [[filibuster]] of Obama's CIA nomination [[John Brennan]] , due to the fact that the administration was unwilling to forbid ordering [[drone]] targeting of Americans on American territories, in violation of the 5th Amendment. A month of letter writings without a reply and March 6 testimony from Attorney General [[Eric Holder]] prompted the filibuster. A number of GOP Republican Senators joined him , including [[Ted Cruz]], [[Marco Rubio]], and [[Mike Lee]], among others and as well as one Democrat Senator, [[Ron Wyden]]. A vote on a non-binding statement clarifying that Obama shall not kill Americans with drone warfare was denied by Democrats in the Senate.

== Political positions/views==

Unlike many politicians of both major political parties, Rand Paul supports sharply reducing the size of government. Notably in 2018 , he single-handedly shutdown the entire Federal government (for a few hours, at least) while he spoke against the hypocrisy of his own party in desiring to pass a 700-page bill that nobody had read and that would create the same deficit spending that his party opposed during the Obama administration.<ref>https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/373069-rand-paul-blockade-pushing-senate-to-late-night-budget-vote</ref>

In 2020, Paul has abandoned his party line to join [[Democrats]] and [[RINO]]s in supporting a resolution ordering [[President Donald Trump]] to remove end hostilities against [[Iran]], although unlike his Democratic counterparts he did so out of genuine principle.<ref>[https://votesmart.org/bill/27615/71054/117285/a-joint-resolution-to-direct-the-removal-of-united-states-armed-forces-from-hostilities-against-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-that-have-not-been-authorized-by-congress#71054 S J Res 68 - A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress - National Key Vote]</ref> Paul strongly opposes American involvement in [[Ukraine]], and consequently has been targeted by the Ukrainian government as a "Russian propagandist."[https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbard-rand-paul-placed-list-russian-propagandists-ukraine-1727831] ====Zelensky regime kill list===={{See also|Myrotvorets}}[[File:Rand Paul Tulsi Gabbard.png|right|300px|thumb|Sen. Rand Paul and [[Tulsi Gabbard]] both appear on the Ukrainian regime's kill list.<ref>https://archive.ph/34J4n</ref>]]Sen. Rand Paul has been placed on a Ukrainian kill list for representing his constituents, [[free speech]], and allegedly promoting “Russian propaganda”.<ref>[https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/09/19/ukrainian-hit-list-publishes-names-and-addresses-of-alleged-russian-propagandists-turns-out-to-be-based-not-in-ukraine-but-in-langley-va-where-cia-headquarters-is/ Ukrainian “Hit List” Publishes Names and Addresses of Alleged “Russian Propagandists:” Turns Out To Be Based Not in Ukraine But in Langley VA Where CIA Headquarters Is Located], By Jeremy Kuzmarov - September 19, 2022. ''Covert Action Maghazine.</ref> The Ukraine Center for Countering Disinformation listed Sen. Paul among a group of politicians, academics and activists that it deems "Enemies of Ukraine". “While I have repeatedly said my sympathies lie with Ukraine, my loyalty is to the United States,” Paul said in a statement. “My oath of office obligates me to defend the United States and that includes defending our country from incurring massive new debt no matter how worthy the cause.” In April 2022, Sen. Paul accused socialist premier [[Joe Biden]] of provoking Russia to invade Ukraine by floating the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO. Both Biden and NATO warlord [[Jens Stoltenberg]] had admitted that they never really intended to allow Ukraine to join NATO.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/us/politics/nato-ukraine.html</ref><ref>https://archive.ph/QUPk6</ref><ref>https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/04/14/biden-official-admits-us-refused-to-address-ukraine-and-nato-before-russian-invasion/</ref><ref>https://archive.ph/QUPk6#selection-853.54-855.28</ref> Ukraine aid was later found to have been [[money laundering|funneled]] back into [[Democrat]] campaign coffers in the [[FTX scandal]] by the [[Zelensky regime]]. In May 2022, Sen. Paul delayed a [[US Senate]] vote on a $40 billion supposed "[[Ukraine aid]]" package, insisting that an inspector general to oversee the spending be included in the authorization.<ref>https://archive.ph/FsPEZ#selection-731.0-963.226</ref> Paul was one of 11 Senate [[Republican]]s to vote against the funding. Sen. Paul responded with a tweet to an [[NPR]] official state media report, questioning the massive aid package to Ukraine, given Ukraine's history of [[corruption]]. “We shouldn’t be spending the $,” Paul tweeted last week. “If Congress did approve it, a meticulous investigator would need to oversee your $ being spent in Ukraine at a time when Americans can’t even afford gas or groceries.”

For three separate Obamacare repeal votes, Paul joined a small group of [[RINO]]s and [[conservatives]] to side with Senate [[Democrats]] in opposing a opposed the initial "repeal and replace" measure, although he did vote while subsequently voting for the two other repeal measures.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/07/25/us/politics/senate-votes-repeal-obamacare.html How Each Senator Voted on Obamacare Repeal Proposals]</ref>

Paul opposed the [[Cassidy-Graham healthcare bill]] in September 2017 along with [[DIAN]] [[Susan Collins]],<ref>Two references: