Does Rand Paul want to be president, or does he want to teach classes on how to interview? I’m starting to wonder after this morning’s appearance on The Today Show, in which he seemed more concerned with lecturing Savannah Guthrie about “editorializing” than answering questions about his record on foreign policy.
This is, of course, the second time he’s condescendingly explained journalism to a female interviewer.
Via Politico, here’s how Guthrie opened her question:
“You have had views on foreign policy in the past that were somewhat unorthodox, but you seem to have changed over the years,” Guthrie told the Kentucky Republican, who was appearing via satellite from Nashua, New Hampshire. “You once said Iran was not a threat, now you say it is. You once proposed ending foreign aid to Israel, now you support it, at least for the time being, and you once offered to drastically cut … defense spending.”
He tried to jump in; Guthrie tried to finish her question. At which point Paul decided to tell her how to do her job:
“Why don’t we let me explain instead of talking over me, OK?” Paul interjected. “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?’ That would sort of a better way to approach an interview.”
She asked, again, whether Iran was a threat or not, and again, she got a lecture on how to interview: “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Listen, you’ve editorialized. Let me answer a question. You ask a question, and you say, ‘Have your views changed?’ instead of editorializing and saying my views have changed.”
You know, even if he felt like Guthrie was talking over him, or trying to pin him down unfairly, he could have just said that, instead of clicking over into You’re-Doing-It-Wrong-Honey Professor Doctor Dad Authority Figure Man Mode. That would have been a much better look! But maybe in the future Paul should consider spending a little less time pondering his dream interview technique, and a little more time formulating his answers to pretty fucking obvious questions from journalists. You’re the one who chose to run for President, pal.