Rand Paul Has a Plan for the Saudi Crown Prince

And other comments around the Sunday dial
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 21, 2018 12:32 PM CDT
Rand Paul Has a Plan for the Saudi Crown Prince
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., leaves a meeting of Senate Republicans with Vice President Mike Pence, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Sen. Rand Paul unloaded Sunday on Saudi Arabia and said the nation's leader should be shown the exit door, per Fox News. "I think it's insulting to anyone who’s analyzing this with any kind of intelligent background to think that, oh, a fistfight led to a dismemberment with a bone saw," he said on Fox News Sunday of Saudi Arabia's explanation that late journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a fistfight gone wrong. Calling Saudi Arabia "the largest state sponsor of radical Islam and violent jihad," Paul aimed his ire at Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: "... I think we cannot continue to have relations with him. And so I think he's gonna have to be replaced, frankly." For more around the Sunday dial:

  • Sanctions: "It's my thinking that MBS was involved in this, that he directed this and that this person was purposefully murdered," Sen. Bob Corker said Sunday on CNN's State of the Union, referring to Mohammed's alleged role in the killing, per the Washington Post. "Sanctions should be put in place for anybody who has had anything to do with it."
  • Trump money: "We also have to determine whether financial motives are motivating the president and the first family," said Rep. Adam Schiff on ABC's This Week about President Trump's reaction to the Khashoggi killing, per ABC News. "This is the very problem with the president not releasing his tax returns. It leaves the American people wondering, is US-Saudi policy being driven by something other than national interests."
  • More tax cuts? "We've got to make sure that it’s at least supported by facts around dynamic growth," said Sen. Thom Tillis on NBC's Meet the Press about the idea of another round of tax cuts, per NBC News. "It has to pay for itself. We can’t go further in debt."
  • "Lyin' Ted": "That wasn't the best phrase for me to use, but, you know, I'm going to do my best to stay focused on the future," said Texas Senate Candidate Beto O'Rourke on ABC's This Week about having called incumbent Ted Cruz "Lyin' Ted" in a Tuesday debate, per Politico.
  • The Taliban: "It’s totally out of step with American values," said GOP Rep. Martha McSally on Fox News Sunday about a comment by her Democratic opponent, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, per the Hill. Both are running for the Arizona Senate. Answering a hypothetical question in 2003 about joining the Taliban, Sinema said, "Fine, I don't care what if you want to do that, go ahead."
  • 2020 run? "...I'm mostly focused in the next sixteen days at making sure we have a Congress," said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a Democrat, on State of the Union when asked if he will run for president in 2020, per the Hill. "But I'll make a decision probably in the next couple months."
See what Trump is saying about Saudi Arabia's version of the Khashoggi killing. (More politics stories.)

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