WATCH: Why Senator Rand Paul Hasn’t Endorsed Trump | Honestly with Bari Weiss

If you’re a listener of this show, then you’ve probably heard of the horseshoe theory. It’s basically this idea that when you go far enough to the left and far enough to the right, the voices start to sound pretty similar. This is certainly the case when you listen to sound bites of both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump talk about trade and tariffs.

But during this time—what my colleague Peter Savodnik has called our great political scramble—some voices don’t seem to fit in anywhere, voices like that of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. Senator Paul is a bit of an anomaly on the American right. He’s traditionally libertarian, pro free trade, pro market, and anti subsidy. He’s a deficit hawk and criticizes both Trump and Biden on spending, and he is one of just seven senators who still refuses to endorse Trump.

Today, we talk to Senator Paul to find out how he fits into the new right, when Republicans stopped caring about balancing the budget, why he wants to cut military spending, and cut aid to Israel. We ask if the U.S. can remain the world’s hegemon, while spending less, and if that’s even still a worthy goal, and finally, how Donald Trump and J.D. Vance totally lost the plot.

[mkteal]

Bari Weiss once again demonstrated why she is the top tier of journalism. She can give a PhD master class in how to do it the right way. Excellent interview. Substance, style, and intelligence with a proper conversation.

[tracypolselli]

I don’t blame him, even though I’m voting for Trump. He and Thomas Massie are the two most honorable men in politics.

[amandakish]

Its the bourbon 😅 we need more Pauls and Massies, thats for sure.

[josiepkat]

Ummm the border, freedom of speech, less or no war- those are existential too.

[bullirish]

He had better get "enthused" pretty soon. Does he want a socialist government?

[jpyang]

Great interview. I always find what Rand Paul says makes sense. We need more politicians like Paul but too many are controlled by their donors.

[oceantree]

A great interview. As a native of Bowling Green who, coincidentally, had his first real political exposure in his first year in high school as a Ron Paul supporter, I’m relieved to hear Senator Paul sounding fairly cogent.

[jacquieloller]

Love Rand Thank you for having him on, Bari!!! He is sensible and no nonsense.

[rft]

He talks about not liking tariffs but other countries are putting tariffs on us. All Trump wants to do is make it fair. If they charge us 10 percent tariff then we should do the same.

[conversationcafe]

"Candace Owens lost her mind...fringe" Ms. Weiss you know better. This is not high-end journalism.

[joannemendiola]

Who care if you dont endorse him we know some republicans have this called Envy.

[sovereignrage]

If we raised tarrifs and dropped taxing to 15% on avg would inflation go up go down or stay the same....

I think it would actually go down as our cost of living would go down raising the value of our dollar while getting more revenue from outside sources... we probably wouldnt even notice the increase in cost value as our cost of living would be far down...

[KENTUCKYUSA]

As a constituent of Rand Paul, my understanding is that he is tasked with representing his voters' decisions, not endlessly grandstanding over his pet projects with no results. As the majority of Paul's voters also understand, we have to come to grips with fiscal insanity or we will incur a debt crisis beyond our ability to fix. But blaming Trump for this is not a viable solution. Congress has refused to even address the problem for decades. They prefer lobbyists and wealth over voters. So fix Congress, Senator Paul, or at least help Trump root out some of the worst excesses.

[boydmason]

Good interview, I like it when interviewers are able to get the guest to open up and disclose what they really believe and why. Doesn’t necessarily make us agree, but it’s fun to think about and be aware of different position and perspectives.

[tannykeeler]

Cheaper products for consumers but no more manufacturing middle class—

[stephenkenney]

All anyone should care about is who he’s VOTING for.

[scsmith]

I still do not understand why it is even necessary for anyone in Congress to endorse a candidate for President.

[memarks]

It's interesting how the discussion appears to be a sane examination of policy positions and shifts in position of the democrats and what used to be the republicans. In that respect its pretty astute. However there is no acknowledgment of the elephant in the room. Trump has upended any such sane discussion. Republican policy is shrouded by the person of Trump and of Trumpism and has become ephemeral, illusive, rhetorical, impulsive, exploitative, and dependent on one man.

[julianwayte]

In order to reduce inflation we have to cut government spending. That potato is way too hot to handle for 99% of polititians. Rand Paul for President 2028.

[TerryMccrae]

If Paul endorses Trump Obama has no chance