Sen. Paul: Trump deserves a national security adviser who will further his policies, not stymie them
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul reacts to National Security Adviser John Bolton's exit from the Trump administration.
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton's resignation has resurfaced tensions between perceived isolationists and war hawks in the Republican Party.
That became apparent Thursday as House GOP Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., known for her hawkish foreign policy, traded deeply personal barbs with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a noninterventionist who has fiercely criticized her father's role in going to war in Iraq.
Paul on Wednesday tweeted an op-ed accusing Cheney of pressuring Trump into "endless war." On Thursday, he followed up with a tweet accusing Cheney of "pro-Bolton blather" and praising Trump for rebuffing her interest in endless wars.
"Hi @Liz_Cheney, President @realDonaldTrump hears all your NeverTrump warmongering. We all see your pro-Bolton blather. I’m just grateful for a president who, unlike you, supports stopping these endless wars," Paul tweeted.
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Cheney fired back by blasting Paul as a "big loser" and retweeting a 2015 post in which Trump likened Paul to a "spoiled brat without a properly functioning brain."
She added that Paul's motto seemed to be: "Terrorists First, America Second."
During the 2016 Republican primaries, Paul was a fierce critic of Trump, who attempted to humiliate the senator on the debate stage.
"Rand Paul shouldn't even be on this stage. He's No. 11, he's got 1 percent in the polls. I don't know how he got up here. There are far too many people up here anyways," Trump said during a primary debate in California.
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Since Trump's election, Paul and Trump have grown closer, with the Kentucky senator praising his views on foreign policy. When Trump announced Bolton's departure on Tuesday, Paul celebrated the decision. “The chances of a war worldwide go greatly down,” he said.
Paul later responded to Cheney by tweeting an article about Trump criticizing the Bush administration's foreign policy as a 2016 candidate.
"Hey @Liz_Cheney I feel like you might just be mad still about when Candidate Trump shredded your Dad’s failed foreign policy and endless wars," he said.
Cheney's father is Dick Cheney, George W. Bush's vice president.
"Weird. I don’t see you on stage here, @RandPaul," Cheney jabbed in response. "Oh, right. My bad - you had already lost. #weirdRand."
As Liz Cheney and Paul exchanged blows on Twitter, Trump claimed that he was more aggressive on foreign policy than Bolton, a perceived hawk.
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"My views on Venezuela, and especially Cuba, were far stronger than those of John Bolton. He was holding me back!" he said.
His tweet followed suspicions that Bolton's foreign policy was too aggressive for Trump, who, during his campaign, promised to return troops from the Middle East.
In explaining Bolton's departure, Trump claimed multiple people in the administration disagreed with the former national security adviser's suggestions. It's unclear which foreign policy issues Trump was referencing, but his Thursday tweet made clear that he saw himself as stronger than Bolton on issues involving both Cuba and Venezuela.
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He included a tweet from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who said that Trump told him that many people got his relationship with Bolton wrong.
"As he reminded me it’s actually the DIRECT OPPOSITE of what many claim or assume If in fact the direction of policy changes it won’t be to make it weaker," Rubio said.
