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Guest
Paul snubs 'Meet the Press'
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican whose civil rights views ignited outrage, backed out of a scheduled appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," the network said.
Betsy Fischer, the program's producer, said Paul's press secretary, Jesse Benton, notified the network Friday he would not be appearing on the show Sunday, MSNBC reported.
Paul, the 47-year-old candidate backed by the Tea Party who won the Republican U.S. Senate primary this week, had agreed to the appearance Wednesday, but an aide, explaining the cancellation, said he was tired, the network said.
Efforts to reach the Paul campaign were unsuccessful, MSNBC reported.
Fischer said only two other scheduled guests had canceled an appearance on the popular program -- Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan and Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia.
Earlier Friday Paul accused Democrats of trying to "trash" his campaign with criticism of his views on the Civil Rights Act. Speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America," he said politics are behind the criticism.
"I've just been trashed up and down and they have been saying things that are untrue," Paul said. "And when they say I'm for repealing the Civil Rights Act, it's absolutely false. It's never been my position and something that I basically just think is politics."
The criticism came after his response to a question by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow about whether private businesses should have the right to refuse service to African-Americans.
"Yes," Paul said. "I'm not in favor of any discrimination of any form. But I think what's important about this debate is not written into any specific 'gotcha' on this, but asking the question: What about freedom of speech? Should we limit speech from people we find abhorrent? Should we limit racists from speaking?"
Discussions about whether private businesses should have the right to discriminate "shouldn't have a place in our political dialogue in 2010," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele affirmed the GOP's support of the Civil Rights Act in response to Paul's comment.
Paul said he has never called for a repeal of the landmark 1964 legislation.
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican whose civil rights views ignited outrage, backed out of a scheduled appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," the network said.
Betsy Fischer, the program's producer, said Paul's press secretary, Jesse Benton, notified the network Friday he would not be appearing on the show Sunday, MSNBC reported.
Paul, the 47-year-old candidate backed by the Tea Party who won the Republican U.S. Senate primary this week, had agreed to the appearance Wednesday, but an aide, explaining the cancellation, said he was tired, the network said.
Efforts to reach the Paul campaign were unsuccessful, MSNBC reported.
Fischer said only two other scheduled guests had canceled an appearance on the popular program -- Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan and Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia.
Earlier Friday Paul accused Democrats of trying to "trash" his campaign with criticism of his views on the Civil Rights Act. Speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America," he said politics are behind the criticism.
"I've just been trashed up and down and they have been saying things that are untrue," Paul said. "And when they say I'm for repealing the Civil Rights Act, it's absolutely false. It's never been my position and something that I basically just think is politics."
The criticism came after his response to a question by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow about whether private businesses should have the right to refuse service to African-Americans.
"Yes," Paul said. "I'm not in favor of any discrimination of any form. But I think what's important about this debate is not written into any specific 'gotcha' on this, but asking the question: What about freedom of speech? Should we limit speech from people we find abhorrent? Should we limit racists from speaking?"
Discussions about whether private businesses should have the right to discriminate "shouldn't have a place in our political dialogue in 2010," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele affirmed the GOP's support of the Civil Rights Act in response to Paul's comment.
Paul said he has never called for a repeal of the landmark 1964 legislation.