Rand Paul scored a big victory in Congress, as he led a successful filibuster over the renewal of key provisions of the Patriot Act. Despite his more Libertarian stance on domestic surveillance, Paul’s past remarks show that he still holds some troubling views on many domestic issues.
In a 2014 interview on "Meet the Press", Paul said that he believed that there was no war on women, even going as far as saying that “if there was a war on women, I think they won.” He goes on to worry about men being out-competed. Paul also voted no on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.
In an interview on Glenn Beck’s show, Paul stated that he believed that if marriage was redefined to include same-sex couples, it could lead to serious economic and moral problems. “The stability of the marriage unit is enormous and we should not just say oh we’re punting on it, marriage can be anything.”
Paul is also against a woman’s right to choose. According to his 2010 Senate campaign website “Dr. Paul believes life begins at conception,” and he believes that life should be afforded total legal protections from that moment on. In Paul’s Senate race memoir “The Tea Party Goes to Washington” Paul recounts a conversation he had with Sarah Palin in which he assures her that he is pro-life.
While Paul’s views and action against the NSA’s domestic surveillance programs have been fantastic, he still holds many troubling views on marriage and gender equality.
