Rand Paul to Savannah Guthrie: ‘Instead of Editorializing…Ask Me A Question’
By Jeffrey Meyer | April 8, 2015 | 10:10 AM EDT
On Wednesday, Today co-host Savannah Guthrie repeatedly badgered Kentucky Senator Rand Paul over his views on foreign policy following his presidential announcement. Things got so heated during the discussion that Paul had to tell Guthrie “before we go through a litany of things you say I’ve changed on, why don't you ask me a question.”
After discussing whether or not he had presidential ambitions growing up, the interview got combative over whether or not Senator Paul would ever support a U.S. nuclear deal with Iran. Despite explaining that “part of the problem” is that Iran has interpreted the nuclear framework differently than the United States, Guthrie interrupted the Tea Party senator and demanded that he “take that issue off the table.”
The Today co-host eventually allowed Senator Paul to answer her question but then proceeded to lecture him on how his foreign policy positions have evolved over the years:
You have had views in the past on foreign policy that are somewhat unorthodox, but you seem to have changed over the years. You once said Iran was not a threat, now you say it is. You once proposed ending foreign aid to Israel, you now support it at least for the time being…You wanted to cut defense spending and now you want to increase it 16%. So I just wonder if you’ve mellowed out.
For his part, Paul objected to Savannah Guthrie’s editorializing on his foreign policy positions and asked her to “let me explain instead of talking over me." Paul then told her “before we go through a litany of things you say I’ve changed on, why don't you ask me a question? Have I changed my opinion? That would be sort of a better way to approach an interview.”
...