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Sen. Rand Paul
Though Sen. Rand Paul has endorsed Republican nominee for president Donald Trump, he has done his best to steer clear of his brash former rival and the latest controversy in which Trump attacked the parents of a Muslim U.S. Army captain killed in Iraq after they criticized him at the Democratic National Convention.
However, Paul signed a fundraising email for a political action committee on Tuesday, promoting a website that features a smear of the soldier’s father, Khizr Khan, by suggesting he is a mysterious agent of the Saudi Arabian government and “Islamist investors.”
The email signed by Paul castigated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as “the most corrupt person to ever run for president” and urged readers to donate to the anti-Clinton website HillNo.org, which is run by the little-known Rightly PAC.
The Rightly PAC email signed by Paul told readers that if they are tired of “Clinton-style justice” and “being told to be quiet,” they should “join me in the fastest growing movement of everyday Americans opposed to Hillary Clinton for President. If you can spare just $25 today, you can help give a real voice to the Americans like you who are tired of being silenced, tired of being taken for granted, and tired of being subject to Hillary Clinton’s ‘say one thing and do another’ politics.”
The donation link in the email goes to Rightly PAC, which has repeatedly failed to file required fundraising forms to the Federal Election Commission since it was created last year, and the PAC’s only public presence is the HillNo.org website. The website largely consists of anti-Clinton articles copied verbatim from conservative websites, including one from Breitbart attacking Khan hours before the email signed by Paul was sent out.
The article on HillNo.org tenuously links Khan to dangerous Islamists because he worked at a D.C. law firm a decade ago — the same law firm where Supreme Court Justice John Roberts was a partner at the time. It also links to a blog post from anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Walid Shoebat, who calls Khan a secret agent of the Muslim Brotherhood and suggests that his son was an Islamist mole who was on a mission to kill his fellow soldiers — all truths that will be hidden by the media while “the modernists and homosexuals continue to attack Christianity.”
Asked if Paul gave permission for Rightly PAC or HillNo.org to use his name and if he agreed with the content attacking Khan on their website, the senator’s spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper declined to give Insider Louisville an on-the-record comment. IL also sent an email to the custodian and treasurer of Rightly PAC asking if they received authorization from Paul on the email, but they have not replied.
At the Democratic National Convention last week, Khizr Khan criticized Trump’s policy of instituting a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the United States, said Trump had sacrificed nothing, and asked if Trump has ever read the Constitution. Trump later tweeted that Khan had no right to criticize him and suggested his wife, Ghazala Khan, did not speak because of a stereotype that Muslim women are prohibited from speaking publicly. Ghazala Khan later explained that she did not speak at the DNC because she becomes distraught with grief when she sees pictures of her son Humayun and did not think she could maintain her composure.
Screenshot of Ghazala and Khizr Khan at the Democratic National Convention.Trump has refused to apologize to the Khan family and said on Tuesday that he regrets none of his remarks about them. His reluctance to back down has brought near universal criticism from prominent Republicans like Sen. John McCain and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who have said Gold Star families deserve to be treated with respect.
Sen. Mitch McConnell released a statement this weekend that did not name Trump, but praised Humayun Khan as an American hero and acknowledged the sacrifice of his parents. McConnell added: “I agree with the Khans and families across the country that a travel ban on all members of a religion is simply contrary to American values.”
Despite this indirect criticism of Trump, McConnell has not pulled his strong endorsement of Trump for president, which he reiterated in a speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland two weeks ago.
Asked by the Wall Street Journal what Rand Paul’s opinion was on Trump’s statements about the Khan family, spokesman Sergio Gor stated that “Senator Rand Paul is focused solely on Kentucky and won’t be weighing in on the presidential race at this time.”
Paul is currently running for re-election to the U.S. Senate against the Democratic mayor of Lexington Jim Gray. After this story was published, Gray sent IL a statement criticizing Paul for raising funds for the website.
“Rand Paul is raising money to help fund attacks against an American family that has paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” said Gray. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, no family should be treated this way. What Rand Paul is doing is not only wrong, it’s an embarrassment to Kentucky.”
This story has been updated.
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