Rand Paul Supports Brexit and Slams the War on Drugs at FreedomFest

Paul also shook Gary Johnson’s hand

By: Elias J. Atienza

Last week, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) was at FreedomFest, an annual gathering of conservatives, libertarians, and others in Las Vegas. Other speakers included Senators Ben Sasse (R-NB), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ted Cruz (R-TX), along with libertarians like Gary Johnson and Matt Kibbe.

Paul started his speech by slamming Hillary Clinton and her email scandal, mentioning how her press conference prematurely ended. Paul then went into Brexit.

“About a year ago, someone asked me about Brexit. And this was before it was in the news and I asked, ‘What is it?’ It’s about how England is thinking about leaving the EU. And they asked what do you think of it? I think they should have never joined in the first place,” Paul said.

Paul said that people are tired of being squeezed by government. In his speech about Brexit, Paul then mentioned “Brexit: The Movie.” It is a film supporting Great Britain leaving the EU and the burdensome regulations the EU puts on Great Britain. Check it out below.

Related: Brexit Leader Called Rand Paul His Political Soulmate

Paul then slammed unelected bureaucrats in the United States. He cited that ordinary citizens are being regulated to death by unelected bureaucrats, just like in the EU.

“You’re getting this from unelected regulators, bureaucrats, independent regulatory agencies. It isn’t coming from Congress. It may well be the biggest problem we face, that you no longer have checks and balances,” Paul said. “We’re supposed to be pitting equal branches of government against each other. Madison said, pit ambition against ambition.”

Afterwards, Paul touched upon certain subjects that he has made the center of his term in the Senate. He slammed gun control, such as forbidding people on the terrorist watchlist from purchasing firearms, the assault weapons ban, and the high capacity magazine ban. He advocated for limiting American intervention overseas while maintaining a strong national defense. In addition, Paul criticized the FBI for appealing to neoconservatives for more surveillance powers in the aftermath of the Orlando massacre.

At the end of his speech, Paul talked about how Republicans need to show people that they cared about poverty. He also mentioned that people need to rethink the war on drugs. Paul brought up that most people in jails are black or brown despite the fact that brown and black people use drugs at the same rate as whites.

Paul went onto say:

“Oh, he’s talking that Black Matters Live stuff. The problem is that I don’t think it’s about racism. Maybe some. But really the problem is zero tolerance in this war on drugs and the fact that there is more crime in cities. There’s more African-Americans in cities. Maybe the policemen are black. Maybe the policemen are African-American. Are there some problems yes. It’s not all about racism though. But if we stick our heads in the sand, saying that these people are saying its about racism and it’s not that, there is a disparity, there is a problem.”

“The other thing is that if you lock up a whole generation, they can’t get jobs when they get out of prison, you give them permanent records. What kind of voters are they going to be when they’re voting? We need people to believe that when they get a second chance…they’re going to vote for the American dream,” he added.