Kentucky Senator and future GOP candidate for President in 2016 Rand Paul says the United States “should be boycotting Saudi Arabia” in a speech to donors that was posted on YouTube.
“Remember when South Africa was misbehaving? We organized a boycott of South Africa. We should be boycotting Saudi Arabia and not taking money from Saudi Arabia’s government,” Paul said.
A spokesman for Paul attempted to moderate his comments after crowds had dispersed in a statement, according to the Washington Post. Paul was “not calling for a governmental boycott, but rather options for private citizens and investors.”
Rand Paul’s father, Ron Paul, was hit hard by similar criticism in 2008, Bloomberg notes. During the primary in 2008, the elder Paul received a $500 campaign donation from Don Black, who ran the white nationalist web site Stormfront.
Despite the criticism, Ron Paul’s campaign kept the money.
