'Opposite of conservative': Rand Paul refuses to bend after Trump attack
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is showing no signs of backing down from his opposition to President Donald Trump's signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the package that extends tax cuts for the wealthy while also cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid, food stamps, and green energy subsidies, all to the tune of $2.4 trillion added to the federal deficit.
On Wednesday, Paul, who has repeatedly attacked the bill in recent weeks, posted a segment of himself on Newsmax's Rob Schmitt Tonight show explaining his stance.
"If the bill were solely about making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, I wouldn't be a yes; I'd be a hell yes," wrote Paul on his X post." Unfortunately, that's not the reality with this bill. It includes the largest increase of the debt ceiling ever and will have the United States borrowing $5T over the next 2 years. This bill is the opposite of conservative, and we should not pass it."
The president, for his part, has zeroed in on Paul as a thorn in his side during the negotiations, posting multiple furious rants against him to his Truth Social platform.
"Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially the tremendous GROWTH that is coming," wrote Trump in one of his latest tirades. "He loves voting 'NO' on everything, he thinks it's good politics, but it's not. The BBB is a big WINNER!!!"
While Paul's anti-deficit position puts him at odds with Trump, some commenters noted that his own stance is hardly fiscally sustainable either.
"Sen. Rand Paul is correct that the emerging bill contains a $5 trillion debt limit hike... but there cannot be a simple TCJA extension without also extending the debt limit," wrote NBC News political reporter Sahil Kapur. "That would cause the U.S. to default."