Maddow rips Rand Paul: His dad's followers would do anything for him -- except give him money

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow had bad news for Sen. Rand Paul on Friday: she noticed him trying to bury his underwhelming fundraising performance in a "Friday night news dump."

The Tea Party senator quietly announced on Friday that two super PACs supporting his campaign had raised just $5 million through the first half of the year, with 40 percent of that coming from just two donors -- putting him between Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, which is not a position any would-be serious contender wants to be in.

Considering that Paul is an object of fascination by Washington media, she added, that lack of support also undermined the notion that he would be able to capitalize on the donor network his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, built during his own career.

"Rand Paul's not supposed to be any other Republican candidate -- he's supposed to be the leader of a movement of diehard followers who would have done anything for Ron Paul, and they'll do anything for Rand Paul," Maddow said. "Well, it turns out one of the things those people will not do for Rand Paul is send him any money."

While the younger Paul is having trouble raising money, Maddow said, supporters for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have bought $250,000 worth of advertising time on Fox News in an effort to boost his national profile ahead of the first GOP candidate debate.

The conservative network has already said it would allow just the top 10 candidates in the polls to participate, Maddow said, effectively forcing them to buy national ads instead of focusing on traditional campaign events in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"It's a great racket that Fox has set up," she said, adding, "Ka-ching! Must be very nice for Fox."

Watch Maddow's commentary, as aired on Friday, below.