Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is coming under attack after making a comment on national television this week that’s been construed by some to signal the lawmaker’s newfound approval of domestic drone use.
Paul, who famously launched a 13-hour-long filibuster in Washington last month in opposition of drone use within the United States, has fired back at his critics by insisting that his opinion of unmanned aerial vehicles hasn’t changed.
Commentary labeling the lawmaker as a “flip-flopper” erupted early Tuesday after a segment aired on the Fox Business Network in which Sen. Paul all but completely contradicted the main bullet point of his March 6 marathon anti-drone rant.
Speaking out against drone use on Capitol Hill only one month ago, Sen. Paul sharply condemned the Pentagon and CIA’s use of unmanned aircraft to target overseas insurgents, insisting that little was keeping the Obama administration from implementing UAVs inside America’s borders to bring down suspected terrorists.
During his lengthy diatribe, Paul suggested that use of a drone to strike down alleged terrorist and American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in 2011 could have set a precedent by giving the White Hou
“If someone comes out of a liquor store with a weapon and fifty dollars in cash. I don’t care if a drone kills him or a policeman kills him.”