Paul, a libertarian critic of U.S. military intervention and the National Security Administration’s metadata collection program, lashed out at Christie for his support of such anti-terrorism measures. “‘I want to collect more records from terrorists but less records from other people.’ But how are you supposed to know, Megyn?”
Foreign policy and national security offered one of the few areas of the debate where Donald Trump did not dominate, though the real estate mogul-turned-presidential candidate did note that he expressed opposition to the war in Iraq in 2004, long before most Republicans did. “I want to collect more records from terrorists but less records from other people”, Paul said. “The Fourth Amendment is what we fought the revolution over!”
Christie called Paul’s answer “ridiculous” and asked Paul “how are you supposed to know” who the innocents and the terrorists are.
When Christie noted that he also hugged the victims of the September 11 terror attacks, Paul gave a very overt eye roll. Paul said he thinks it is unconstitutional to monitor American citizens without a warrant. “I will make no apologies ever for protecting the lives and the safety of the American people”.
But Christie was quick to bite back as Paul stood grinning. You fundamentally misunderstood the Bill of Rights. And that’s what I fought to end.
The hug was a jab at Christie for embracing Obama immediately after Hurricane Sandy, which drew the ire of conservatives across the nation who accuse Christie of helping Obama weeks ahead of the last presidential election. The hug from Christie, who was a popular surrogate for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at the time, angered some conservatives for seeming to undermine the GOP message. And those had nothing to do with politics.
He then accused Paul of demagoguery and using the issue to raise money for his campaign. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll released hours before the debate showed only 30 percent of New Jersey voters have a favorable opinion of Christie, which pollsters say is a new low for the second-term governor.
