Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) gained national attention Thursday night when he posted a video on X (Twitter) announcing that he was ready to make a major announcement ahead of the 2024 Republican primary elections.
The Republican launched a website explaining what is, so far, his strongest position facing the primaries: his unequivocal opposition to Nikki Haley through the "Never Nikki" campaign.
As I look over the field, I don’t think I yet have a first choice, but I do know one thing: count me in as #NeverNikki! pic.twitter.com/0RjbBhnwdc
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 12, 2024
Although the revelation disappointed some opinion leaders who expected him to announce a presidential ticket with former President Trump, the announcement was nevertheless forceful.
In an almost two-minute clip, the libertarian senator made it clear that, of all the Republican or independent candidates, he would never vote for the former ambassador to the UN.
"I've had a long relationship with Donald Trump and there is a lot to like there," Paul said in the posted video. "I am also a big fan of a lot of the fiscal conservatism of Ron DeSantis."
"I think Vivek Ramaswamy has been an important voice. Also, I've listened to and met with the independent Bobby Kennedy," the senator continued. "I'm not yet ready to make a decision, but I am ready to make a decision on someone who I cannot support, so I'm announcing this morning that I am never Nikki."
The senator proceeded to give more details about why he will not support Nikki Haley in 2024.
"I don't think any informed or knowledgeable libertarian or conservative should support Nikki Haley. I've seen her attitude towards our interventions overseas, I've seen her involvement in the military industrial complex," he said. "But I've also seen her indicate that she thinks you should be registered to use the internet."
"I think she fails to understand our republic was founded upon people like Ben Franklin, Sam Adams, Madison, John Jay and others who posted routinely — for fear of the government — they posted routinely anonymously," said the senator who defines himself as a libertarian. "And I think her failure to really understand that or to think that you should register through the government somehow for the internet is something that should disqualify her in the minds of all libertarian-leaning conservatives."
This latest criticism from Paul of Haley refers to the former ambassador's comments in November, when she appeared to promise that she would demand that all social media users stop being anonymous in the name of "national security," a stance that earned her harsh criticism.
At the time of publishing this article, Haley has not yet publicly responded to Rand Paul's comments.
