Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) unloaded on his fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) at an event in his home state.
The Oklahoma Republican expressed frustration with Paul's intransigence during debates over spending bills, and he warned that President Donald Trump wanted the GOP-led Congress to get an appropriation bill passed and took some personal shots at his colleague, reported veteran journalist David Arnett on his "Straight Up" Substack page.
“The question is why did I vote to give illegals more money? I didn’t," Mullin said. "The president made it very clear he wanted appropriation bills passed. If any amendment passes, it kills the whole bill. Rand Paul’s amendment sounds good, right? The problem is Rand knew that if that bill passed, it would kill the other 11 appropriation bills, which would throw us into the shutdown."
"Rand doesn’t ever vote with [Republicans] when it comes to appropriation bills," the senator added. "I had to vote against it because if that would have passed, not only would it have killed the bill, but it would also have killed the farm bill which is tied to social programs. If you change the ratio (about 70/30) you must redo the entire farm bill."
Mullin complained that Paul was holding the bill hostage to help his constituents.
“What Rand was trying to do was trying to kill the farm bill because he’s trying to legalize hemp for drinks in Kentucky because of tobacco industry shifts," Mullin said. "There is always a backstory."
Mullin then referred to a 2017 incident in which Paul was violently attacked by a neighbor, who got eight months in prison and was ordered to pay $580,000 in damages.
“I respect Bernie Sanders because he’s an open socialist, and you know that he’s a communist so you know what you’re getting," Mullin said. "Rand Paul’s a freaking snake, and I understand completely why his neighbor did what he did, and I told him that to his face."