Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Sunday defended his bitter war of words with GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming over her opposition to pulling U.S. troops from Afghanistan — and her taunt of Paul’s motto being not “America first,” but “terrorist first.”
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Paul said a majority of the military support an end to troops in Afghanistan.
“Over 60% of the military who served in Iraq or Afghanistan think both of the wars should come to an end so I think the president is right to do this,” he said. “We have to call out the Republicans preventing him.”
He called out the “Bolton/Cheney wing” as primarily behind the push to keep troops in the Middle East.
“[Former Vice President] Dick Cheney to this day still thinks the Iraq war as a good thing,” he said, adding: “Liz Cheney and John Bolton are still advocating for more regime change in the Middle East.”
He also defended his call into a Wyoming radio station last week to urge support of a conservative, former Rep. Cindy Loomis, in a Senate race to replace retiring Wyoming GOP Sen. Mike Enzi — a race some expect Cheney will also enter.
“One of the reasons we called into Wyoming is there are two state representatives who wrote an op-ed that we ended up re-tweeting and sending about and in the op-ed they criticized Liz Cheney for always criticizing the president when he wants people to pay more at NATO and less troops overseas or less war,” he said.
“Liz Cheney criticized him every time. That is the main reason for calling in.”
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