Rand Paul

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) posted a video clip on Facebook on Thursday from a live broadcast on the Iowa-based talk radio station WHO NewsRadio 1040 in which he can be seen challenging Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) to a debate.“We’ve been saying what a fun, dramatic, and informative debate it would be if Bernie Sanders and I could have an hour-long debate. Can you imagine? Debating over what rights are versus what obligations are and debating socialism versus capitalism,” said Sen. Paul.

He continued, “See Bernie… he says, ‘Oh, I believe in a benign form of socialism, democratic socialism.’ But here’s the problem—if a majoritarian takes away your rights, it’s not any different or less bad than an authoritarian taking away your rights.”

“We had this debate over whether majorities were correct a long time ago when we had Jim Crow laws. In the south, legislatures, majorities passed laws saying segregation, separate-but-equal was O.K. So they discriminated against a whole group of people in America. But that was a majority. A majority is not always right, and I think that you have rights that come from your creator that precede government that can not, should not, and must not be taken away from you by a majority, and I really, really object to Bernie’s understanding of what rights are,” added Paul.

Earlier this year, Truth in Media reported in an exclusive interview with Kentucky-based libertarian activist Donald Meinshausen that Senator Paul had said that he would be willing to debate Bernie Sanders “anytime, anyplace.” Truth in Media subsequently launched a petition offering to host a town hall debate between the two candidates in New Hampshire, which has already reached over 5,000 signatures.

In October, Joshua Cook of Truth in Media spoke with Rand Paul, who agreed to participate in the town hall. Bernie Sanders’ campaign offered the reply, “No comment.”

It has been theorized that Democratic National Committee rules may prevent Sanders from debating Paul in an officially-sanctioned event, but on the other hand, the fact that Paul and Sanders are both U.S. senators who would ordinarily debate each other under the course of their typical duties may limit the DNC’s ability to block the two from participating in a joint town hall.

Editor's note: This article, written by Barry Donegan, originally published on Truth in Media, and may have been slightly modified for publication on IVN.