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Rand Paul Blocks Senate Bill, Calls It 'Trump Derangement Syndrome'

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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., blocked a resolution offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Thursday that backs the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and demanded that President Donald Trump speak with special counsel Robert Mueller.

Sanders sought a unanimous consent vote for the resolution stating in a Senate floor speech, “The Congress must make it clear that we accept the assessment of our intelligence community with regard to Russian election interfering in our country and in other democracies.”

Paul rose to oppose the move, which would not have required the senators to go on record, saying, “Trump derangement syndrome has officially come to the Senate.”

“The hatred for the president is so intense that partisans would rather risk war than give diplomacy a chance,” he added. “Does anybody remember that Ronald Reagan sat down with Gorbachev and we lessened the nuclear tensions? We need to still have those openings.”

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“Nobody is saying or excusing Russia meddling in our elections, absolutely, we should protect the integrity of our elections,” Paul explained. “But simply bringing the hatred of the president to the Senate floor, in order to say we’re done with diplomacy, we’re going to add more sanctions and more sanctions.”

According to Senate rules, only one senator is needed to rise in opposition to block a unanimous consent vote, The Hill reported.

Paul has been one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in the aftermath of the controversy created by his Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

The Kentucky senator told a combative Wolf Blitzer on CNN after the summit, “This is truly the Trump derangement syndrome that motivates all of this!” in response to the torrent of criticism Trump received for seeming at a joint news conference to be just as ready to accept Putin’s denial of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election as the intelligence community’s assessment that it did.

Do you agree the Sanders’ resolution is an example of "Trump derangement syndrome"?

“All of this is a sideways way to try to delegitimize Trump and say he really didn’t win the election when the election was really about Hillary Clinton being unfit for office,” he said.

The following day, Paul also did not agree with “CBS This Morning” host John Dickerson’s argument that Trump should have made the moral case against Russia during the news conference. Dickerson cited former President Ronald Reagan calling the Soviet Union the “evil empire” in the 1980s.

“Reagan didn’t call it an evil empire in a press conference with (Mikhail) Gorbachev,” Paul countered.

The senator went on to argue that Trump’s reluctance to criticize Russia’s alleged interference has to do with the Mueller investigation.

“The president has undergone an onslaught of a year, year-and-a-half of a partisan investigation accusing him of somehow colluding with the Russians,” Paul stated. “So, I think he’s sensitive to that.”

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Randy DeSoto has written more than 2,000 articles for The Western Journal since he joined the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths" and screenwriter of the political documentary "I Want Your Money."
Randy DeSoto is the senior staff writer for The Western Journal. He wrote and was the assistant producer of the documentary film "I Want Your Money" about the perils of Big Government, comparing the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Randy is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths," which addresses how leaders have appealed to beliefs found in the Declaration of Independence at defining moments in our nation's history. He has been published in several political sites and newspapers.

Randy graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a BS in political science and Regent University School of Law with a juris doctorate.
Birthplace
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated dean's list from West Point
Education
United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law
Books Written
We Hold These Truths
Professional Memberships
Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Entertainment, Faith




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