Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., on Sunday refused to back down on her stinging criticism of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. — a war of words over foreign policy that began last week — declaring that he “blames America first.”
In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” Cheney, chair of the House GOP Conference, said her disdain, in which she has characterized his motto as being “terrorists first,” wasn’t aimed at President Donald Trump’s position on bringing troops back home from Afghanistan.
“I think if you look back at what Senator Paul has said over many, many years, he’s very different from where President Trump is on these issues,” she said.
“President Trump puts America first. Senator Paul, whenever given the opportunity, blames America first.
“If you look at what he said about why we were attacked on 9/11, if you look at what he’s said — he’s blamed America even for World War II,” she continued. “President Trump doesn’t believe that. Senator Paul does. And look, I think fundamentally at the end of the day, this is about substance and policy.”
Paul on Friday afternoon had tweeted: "Few people have been as wrong on foreign policy over the last few years as the neocons and @Liz Cheney. The Twitter exchange represents a real and significant debate on the future of our foreign policy between realists like myself and #NeverTrumper neoconservatives like Cheney."
On Sunday, she called his foreign policy views "dangerous.”
"Sen. Paul tried to get elected president. He was able to only get less than 5% of the vote in the Iowa caucuses,” she charged. “His views are not views that are shared widely. ... They're dangerous views."
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