Ron Paul Walks Off CNN Interview

(Newser) – Ron Paul had a testy interview with CNN today that he ended by unclipping his microphone and saying, "Goodbye" as Gloria Borger continued to pepper him with questions, reports Mediaite. The source of the friction was questions about political newsletters that went out under Paul's name about 20 years ago that had racist and homophobic sentiments. The issue has come up before, including during his 2008 run, and Paul seemed fed up with giving the same general response: "I didn’t write them. I didn’t read them at the time and I disavow them. That is your answer.”

The issue surfaced anew when the Weekly Standard wrote about the newsletters in its latest issue, notes the New York Times. (One of the more controversial quotes is from a 1992 newsletter about the Los Angeles riots: "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.”) Paul contends that the newsletters went out under his name but that others did the writing and he didn't pay much attention to them. He reportedly made money off the publications, however, and that has kept the questions coming. Business Insider has a backgrounder on the whole issue here.