The Republican presidential debate in South Carolina Monday night featured plenty of interesting moments, one of them being Texas congressman Ron Paul hearing boos from the crowd in response to his views on foreign policy.
Mr. Paul was responding to a question from Fox News host Bret Baier regarding some comments that he had made regarding the U.S. military operation that tracked down and killed Osama Bin Laden. Mr Baier quoted Mr. Paul’s comments in Iowa several weeks ago where he stated that international law should have constrained the U.S. from actually killing Mr. Bin Laden.
The Texas congressman responded by attempting to clarify his comments. He stated that he actually did vote for the U.S. to seek out and capture Mr. Bin Laden immediately following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but that it took too long to capture him and that he disagreed with the way the Obama administration handled the eventual killing of the late terrorist leader.
Mr. Paul’s explanation regarding his stance lead him into critiquing the essential American worldview regarding foreign policy.
“If somebody in this country, say a Chinese dissident come over here, we wouldn’t endorse the idea, well, they can come over here and bomb us and do whatever,” said Mr. Paul. “I’m just suggesting that there are processes that if you could follow and that you should do it.”
The Texas Republican was not very clear in defending the comments he originally made in Iowa regarding international law constraining the rights of the U.S. to actually kill Mr. Bin Laden.
That lead Mr. Baier to pose the same question to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Mr. Gingrich chided Mr. Paul’s answer as completely irrelevant to the issue they were actually discussing.
“Bin Laden plotted deliberately, bombing American embassies, bombings the USS Cole, and killing 3,100 Americans, and his only regret was he didn’t kill more,” said Mr. Gingrich to a large round of applause. “Now, he’s not a Chinese dissident. You know, the analogy that Congressman Paul used was — was utterly irrational.”
Mr. Paul then responded by injecting the rhetoric he has commonly used to explain his foreign policy, “Don’t do to other nations, what we don’t want to have them do to us,” said the Texas congressman to a loud roar of booing from the South Carolina crowd.
The boos were much different from the cheers Mr. Paul has enjoyed in debates and at campaign stops throughout the majority of the Republican primary campaign. He has deflected criticism of his foreign policy from rival Republican candidates by stating that he receives more donations and contributions from active military members than any of the other candidates.
The exchange between Mr. Paul and Mr. Gingrich was similar to other exchanges that he’s had in earlier debates regarding his unique foreign policy views. During a debate in Iowa, Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann called him a “dangerous” candidate for his foreign policy views. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum also has called Mr. Paul a “dangerous” candidate for his comments on U.S. relations with Israel.
The crowds loud booing of Mr. Paul Monday in South Carolina though is evidence that his message is not resonating in the Palmetto state as well as it did in Iowa and New Hampshire. Recent polls project him battling Mr. Santorum for a third place finish in the South Carolina Republican primary election on Saturday.
