Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul shared Wednesday that Americans across the United States fear to make political statements and decisions given President Joe Biden’s administration’s attitude toward political dissenters.
Paul spoke Wednesday at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. ahead of a screening of Dinesh D’Souza’s new movie, “Police State,” a film that investigates the Biden administration’s targeting of ordinary Americans. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)
“People are worried about two standards and justice,” said Paul, “that if you worked in the Trump administration, you’re yanked out in your underwear with 17 FBI agents. If you work for Biden or if you happen to be related to Biden, nothing really happens to you. People are worried about donating to campaigns, people worried about working in campaigns. They’re worried about a double standard.”
Paul emphasized that once there was a time in the United States when people were not treated equally under the law based on their race.
“We got past that,” he said.
“Now,” he added, “it’s not about the color of your skin so much as the shade of your ideology. And people are worried about this. They are very concerned. And I think it’s something that the movie will help draw attention to and hopefully will allow us to win some battles up here to bring back the checks and balances that will keep power from centralizing.”
“It’s always about centralization of power,” Paul added. “It’s about too much power as well. Power without checks and balances. Hopefully, ‘Police State’ will help legislators up here to know how important it is that people be treated the same and that the same standard of justice be there for all of us.”
Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan similarly spoke on Wednesday night, warning that the two-tiered system of justice “continues to escalate.”
“First, they spied on his campaign,” he said of former President Donald Trump. “Then it was the [Special Counsel Robert] Mueller investigation … We found out from Mr. [John] Durham there was nothing to it, which we all sort of knew when they were doing it. Then it was the impeachment.”
Jordan asked the audience if they remembered a year ago when the FBI raided Trump’s home. Jordan said he called the former president, who allegedly responded to the call by saying, “Jim. This is the best thing that ever happened to our party.”
Jordan praised the former president for his attitude amidst the chaos of that day but slammed the federal agencies that targeted Trump in this manner.
The Ohio Republican also emphasized that part of the constitutional duty of the legislative branch is to do oversight, saying that the “disinformation industry is concerned they will no longer be able to operate” if lawmakers properly conduct oversight.
“When you do that, I think you can actually change the behavior of media, not to mention the legislation or how you handle the appropriation process,” he said.
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