🧵 THREAD: Rand Paul is no libertarian, and here are the receipts. When Paul criticized the strike on cartel boats, it…

🧵 THREAD: Rand Paul is no libertarian, and here are the receipts. When Paul criticized the strike on cartel boats, it wasn't about principle. He's spent his career entangled in the interventionist machine while calling himself a "libertarian." He sits on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. And in his own book, he went out of his way to praise U.S.-funded "democracy promotion" groups like Freedom House, the International Republican Institute, and the National Democratic Institute, calling them "non-partisan." Non-partisan? Members of Congress literally sit on their boards! Freedom House takes Soros money. They operate as State Department cut-outs. Rand Paul defended them. In his own words. And that's just the beginning. Let's dig in ⬇️

Remember the 2016 Presidential run that Rand Paul flirted with? One of his advisers was Lorne Craner -- former president of International Republican Institute. Rand Paul knows perfectly well what the IRI is and does.

Now, in fairness, Paul has criticized NED on occassion, mostly when it overreaches on liberty.

While Rand Paul did start out being very anti-interventionist, his views changed over time. He compares his own foreign policy positions to Ronald Reagan.

His opposition in foreign aid is more about a desire to tie it to pro-democracy efforts than libertarianism.

In 2014, he called to declare war against ISIS.

The most telling evidence isn't in what Rand Paul says , it's in what he refuses to say. He's present at Senate hearings where USAID's activities are scrutinized, including cases like Honduras, where U.S. aid has been tied to strengthening cartels. Yet when those issues come up, Paul stays silent.

Which raises the real question: if Rand Paul is truly libertarian, why does he so often sit out the fights that matter? He casts "no" votes on lopsided bills that pass 90–10; symbolic gestures that change nothing. When has he ever shifted the outcome, or made a substantive difference?

Again, this is a senator who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee. When he isn't grandstanding with symbolic "no" votes, he's quietly aligning himself with the machinery of U.S. foreign policy. That's why his outrage at @JDVance rings hollow. It isn't about libertarian principle; it's about turf. And I’d bet every last dollar that's the real cause of his anger.

To be clear: Rand Paul has plenty of good qualities! But calling out NED's interventions overseas has never been one of them. He knows exactly how the U.S. intervention machinery operates; he’s been around it for years. So the fact that he's choosing now to raise his voice is proof it isn't about principle.