Rand Paul on criticism over treatment of women: they 'have come a long way'

[umbertino]

After facing questions over his behavior in interviews with female journalists, presidential candidate says women are ‘intelligent’

 

 

 

Martin Pengelly in New York

@MartinPengelly

 

Sunday 12 April 2015 16.53 BST

 

 

 

 

Rand Paul, one of two declared candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, on Sunday answered criticism of his behaviour towards female interviewers by saying such women “have come a long way”, are “intelligent” and “should be equal to their counterparts and treated equally”.

 

Paul was appearing on CNN after a week in which he announced his candidacy, following the Texas senator Ted Cruz, and was criticised for a subsequent interview with NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie.

 

Speaking to CNN host Dana Bash in an interview filmed in Iowa City after he ended an interview with the Guardian early, causing further widespread comment, Paul was asked if he would “pull his punches” with women interviewers from now on.

 

“I think women have come a long way,” he said. “Women are in these positions not because they’re women but because they’re intelligent and they should be equal to their counterparts and treated equally.

 

“But I can tell you that the interviewers in the last couple of days, I think, probably got it easier than what I gave to [former New York governor] Eliot Spitzer on your programme here.”

 

Paul added: “I would not come into our interview thinking, ‘OK, it’s a woman versus a man kind of interview.’ I just think she’s going to have tough questions, I’m going to have tough questions, and I’ve got to be prepared.”

 

Asked by NBC’s Guthrie about his changed positions on some foreign policy points, Paul had said: “Why don’t we let me explain instead of talking over me, OK? Before we go through a litany of things you say I’ve changed on, why don’t you ask me a question: ‘Have I changed my opinion?’”

 

The senator also accused Guthrie of “editorialising” his views, in an exchange which reminded some critics of a February interview with CNBC in which he “shushed” host Kelly Evans and told her to “calm down”.

 

On CNN, Paul repeated his complaint about “editorialising” by journalists.

 

“I’m unwilling to let people characterise things unfairly, and if someone’s going to write an op-ed on me ... that’s fair for them to try to do it, but it’s also fair for me to try to set the record straight and say they’re editorialising in the question,” he said.

 

Asked about how he would approach a debate with one potential Democratic opponent for president, H-illary Clinton, who is due to declare her candidacy today, he said: “I’m always polite, and even in all the interviews when I’m accused of being too aggressive, I’ve never yelled or got out of control …

 

“I would treat her with the same respect I would a man, but I wouldn’t lay down and say, ‘I’m not going to respond … ’ That would be a sexist response, to say: ‘Oh, my goodness, she deserves to be treated less aggressively because she’s only a woman.’ I would never say that about anybody.”

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/12/rand-paul-women-interviews

Edited April 13, 2015 by umbertino

[skeetdog]

Thanks umbertino....Good for Rand Paul...It's about time a candidate from the right stands up for the truth and demand to be quoted for what their views are beside bein' side tracked by some paid left-winged nut fairy tale writer tryin' to keep the sheoples head's stuck in the sand. MSM has caused this on their selves startin' from the Vietnam War and the death of Kennedy...The MSM needs its' a$$ handed back to them in the same manner that they are directly responsible for breedin' the ignorance this country suffers from...We need to support all candidates that have the mental fortitude to stop their pre-written prepared speeches and put the MSM back in their place...Women want to be equal to men they want to act as if they can stand on the upper echelons of courage with men but when something doesn't fit into their little scheme of things these same women want to fall back on their little deliquesce...