President Donald Trump has been consistently gentle and downright friendly with Sen. Rand Paul, calling him a “good man” even as the Kentucky Republican threatened to go along with a historic rejection of the president’s choice for Secretary of State.
But the bonhomie could fade fast over the next few weeks as Paul prepares to step into the spotlight as a vocal opponent of Gina Haspel, the president’s embattled nominee for CIA Director.
Paul switched his vote on Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State at the last minute, earning ridicule in some quarters for folding in the face of presidential pressure.
The stakes for Paul are higher with Haspel, whom Paul has said helped develop the intelligence agency’s enhanced interrogation program that the government now considers torture.
“It’s a harder call,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, who backs Haspel’s nomination but notes that Paul is staking his opposition based on his belief that the program was “antithetical” to U.S. ideals.
“It’s not about politics as much as it is about believing that the Constitution is upheld the way Sen. Paul interprets it,” said Meadows, who chairs the conservative House Freedom Caucus. “It’s a hard call if they’re asking you to take a vote against your principles.”
A dark money group is airing an ad in Kentucky, accusing Paul of siding with terrorists by threatening to vote against Haspel, a Kentucky native.
Paul told McClatchy said he’s not convinced that standing against Haspel’s nomination will be difficult because he’s hoping that the administration will pull it. She has been criticized by former military officials, as well as Senate Democrats who have questioned Haspel's role in the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes.
“I just don't think it sends a good signal to the world to reward somebody who was involved with waterboarding," Paul said. "I think it's a big mistake."
Haspel's confirmation hearing has been scheduled for May 9 before the Senate Intelligence Committee.Winning over lawmakers will be tough for an administration reeling from controversy that pressured White House physician Ronny Jackson to withdraw as Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.
That happened the same day the Senate confirmed Pompeo, and three days after Paul reversed himself and voted to back Pompeo for Secretary of State. For a month, Paul had insisted he'd oppose Pompeo, but reversed himself after speaking to Trump and the nominee.
The backtracking earned Paul ridicule from critics who accused him of showboating and a lashing from the conservative Weekly Standard, which derided his opposition as "Rand standing." It also prompted a dismissive editorial from the Wall Street Journal, which said Paul's “routine hostage situation” had given Democrats leverage to oppose Pompeo.
Republican colleagues were at a loss toexplain what Paul obtained by protesting Pompeo and then reversing himself.
"Rand's an outlier and he ran into a political buzzsaw, " said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who frequently tangles with Paul on foreign policy. "Republicans universally believe that Mike Pompeo is highly qualified, a good choice for the president. If you're a Republican and you're against this nominee, that's just a hard sell."
Pompeo wound up getting confirmed with 57 votes, including all 50 Republicans who voted as well as six Democrats and one independent.
Paul said he got assurances from Pompeo and Trump that the hawkish Pompeo won't lure Trump into more military entanglements. And the senator said he triggered a debate over the continued U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, which he opposes.
“The alternative would be a quiet 'no' or a quiet 'yes,' " he said. "We were a loud voice, that in the end drew public attention to whether or not we should still be at war with Afghanistan."
And he kept on Trump's good side. Indeed, observers say his bond with Trump is as tight as ever.
It was not always so. The two 2016 Republican presidential primary challengers sniped at each other on the campaign trail. At one point Trump via Twitter called Paul “truly weird” and likened him to a “spoiled brat without a properly functioning brain.” Paul fired back,labeling Trump a “delusional narcissist and an orange-faced windbag.”
But today's cozy relationship predates the bad blood spilled on the primary stage. Trump in 2014 paid for a trip to Guatemala that Paul took to perform cataract surgeries for people who couldn’t afford them.
In the wake of Trump’s comments in January that some African countries and Haiti are “shitholes,” Paul cited Trump’s support for a medical mission to Haiti to counter accusations that Trump is prejudiced against the country.
While some Republicans have maintained a cautious distance from Trump, Paul has been publicly supportive, defending the president's immigration ban on television and echoing Trump that the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election has become a “witch hunt.”
That’s earned him at least two rounds of golf with Trump and only muted attacks on Twitter, even as Paul opposed Republican plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
“Tell me another Republican who is able to buck the system so much but also stay in the good graces of the president at the same time,” said Andy Surabian, a Republican strategist and former special assistant to Trump and deputy White House strategist. “They clearly have affection for each other."
The Pompeo situation proved a win-win for both, Surabian argues.
Trump looked like a deal maker, since he convinced Paul to support his choice and Paul "got an audience with the president.”
The fact Paul didn’t persist isn’t a capitulation, Surabian said.
“At a certain point you have to operate within the confines of the possible,” he said.
Still, Paul has to be careful not to erode his image of a politician with staunchly held beliefs by appearing to violate those principals.
“If you are a conviction politician like Rand Paul you can’t afford to compromise your position very often,” said Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism at the University of Kentucky and a veteran political reporter. “Paul has done a pretty good job of being true to who he is and he can’t afford to lose that. It’s what appealing about him to a lot of people.”
Back home, Paul is far more popular than either Republican Gov. Matt Bevin or Paul’s fellow Kentucky Republican, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. Paul’s approval rating in the state was 45 percent in a recent poll by Western Kentucky University’s Social Science Research Center. Among Republicans, 60 percent approved of Paul’s job performance.
That compared with a 30 percent approval rating statewide for McConnell. Among Republicans, McConnell had a 37 percent job approval.
Bevin’s statewide rating was 32 percent in the same poll and 45 percent among Republicans.
“At a time when folks in the state aren’t really happy with traditional politicians or any politicians for that matter, Paul’s numbers are fairly good,” said the center’s director, Joel Turner.
Lesley Clark: 202-383-6054, @lesleyclark
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