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Rand Paul warns banning TikTok will cause Republicans to ‘lose elections for a generation’, alienate young

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is arguing that the GOP will take a hit in popularity with young voters if the party succeeds in banning TikTok, an app with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, according to a report.

As Paul put it, Republicans could “continuously lose elections for a generation” if they succeed in banning TikTok across the U.S. 

“We are in a political world,” Paul told Politico. “We shouldn’t be completely oblivious to the fact that a lot of young people are on there and it is, frankly, their freedom of speech.”

HOUSE, SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH FOR RULES CHANGE TO BAN USE OF TIKTOK

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is arguing that the GOP will take a hit in popularity with young voters if they succeed in banning TikTok, an app with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, according to a recent report from Politico. (GREG NASH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Paul has sparred with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO. and other Republicans over his stance on TikTok. 

Paul argued with Hawley in March after the Kentucky senator blocked Hawley’s bill to ban TikTok. Hawley responded that Paul’s arguments about turning off young voters was “ridiculous” and “so silly I don’t think it’s worth responding to,” according to Politico.

“Listen, if we can’t win younger voters because we’re not on TikTok, we got serious problems in this party,” Hawley said.

BILL TO BAN TIKTOK SLAMMED AS ‘PATRIOT ACT FOR THE DIGITAL AGE’

Paul has sparred with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO. and other Republicans over his stance on TikTok.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Republicans have led the way in calls to ban TikTok in the federal government, calling it “spyware.” 

Fifteen lawmakers in both the Senate and House, led by Sen. Tom Tillis, R-N.C., and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, wrote to Democratic committee leaders to urge them to approve rules changes that would ban TikTok use in Congress. While Republicans and Democrats are largely united in opposition to TikTok, some Democratic lawmakers still use the app for campaigning and outreach.

“Members of Congress must lead by example and immediately stop using the platform for official communications,” the GOP lawmakers wrote in a letter, adding that TikTok is effectively “spyware.”

WHY TIKTOK IS SO HARD TO BAN IN THE US, ACCORDING TO EXPERTS

Courts blocked a prior bid by the Trump administration to ban TikTok in part on the grounds that such a move violated free speech protections.

Various experts on data privacy told Fox News Digital back in December that TikTok poses a serious security concern. 

“The TikTok app collects a lot of information, above and beyond what it needs,” Vanderbilt professor and cybersecurity expert Douglas Schmidt said. 

“[TikTok] collects things like device location, calendars, contacts. There’s also concerns that the app itself may be written in a way that allows it to take control of the [user’s] phone.” 

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“TikTok hounds its users relentlessly into providing and sharing more than they may want to share,” Schmidt also said. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Paul’s office for additional comment.

Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History. 

Story tips can be sent to jeffrey.clark@fox.com.

Rand Paul celebrates Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s COVID vaccine ‘comeuppance’: ‘Petty tyrants’

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., issued a gloating tweet Tuesday in response to news that Chicago has been ordered to rehire and issue back wages to city workers who were fired for refusing to comply with Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in 2021.

“Gotta love it when petty tyrants are given comeuppance,” Paul tweeted with a link to an article about the ruling from Administrative Law Judge Anna Hamburg-Gal.

On April 19, Hamburg-Gal wrote on behalf of the Illinois Labor Relations Board that the city “failed and refused” to bargain in good faith with union leaders “over the effects of its decision to implement a COVID-19 vaccine mandate,” which she ruled was in violation of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act.

CHICAGO MUST REHIRE, PAY BACK WAGES TO WORKERS PUNISHED OVER COVID-19 VACCINATION MANDATE: JUDGE

RAND PAUL INTRODUCES AMENDMENT TO ELIMINATE FAUCI’S POSITION AS NIAID DIRECTOR

The city is now required to pay back lost wages and benefits with 7% annual interest to unionized Chicago employees who work as carpenters, bricklayers, plumbers, electricians, machinists and other jobs.

Lightfoot drew anger from some union workers when she warned in 2021 that there would be “consequences” for city employees who refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Sen. Rand Paul suggested the ruling in favor of Chicago workers who were fired over Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate was a deserved “commeuppance” for petty tyranny. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

“Employees who fail to report their vaccination status by October 15, 2021, will be placed in a non-disciplinary, no pay status,” her office said in a press release at the time.

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office was critical of the recent ruling in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“The record before the Administrative Law Judge tells a completely different story. Yesterday’s ruling was an erroneous decision that does not follow the law, facts nor importantly the science. We are currently reviewing the ruling and evaluating next steps,” the spokesperson said.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot became the city’s first Democratic mayor in 40 years not to win re-election amid a surge in crime. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Lightfoot’s current term ends on May 15 after she became the first Democrat in 40 years to fail at re-election as mayor of Chicago, which has seen skyrocketing rates of crime in recent years.

Fox News Digital’s Kristine Parks contributed to this report.

Jon Brown is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to jon.brown@fox.com.

Rand Paul staffer’s friend details attack: ‘He’s an absolute champ… was able to run despite being stabbed’

Christopher Barnard was walking out of a Mexican restaurant on a bustling street in the nation’s capital on an early Saturday evening last month when a man armed with a knife randomly attacked his friend, Phillip Todd, a staffer in Sen. Rand Paul’s office who suffered serious injuries. 

“We were just suddenly lunged at by a guy who was hiding behind the wall, and he just started stabbing my friend, [Todd], out of nowhere. He didn’t ask for anything. He didn’t say anything. He just started stabbing him,” Barnard detailed in a new interview this week with Seattle talk radio host Jason Rantz. 

“I was kind of trying to process what was happening, and then after about five seconds, I saw an opening and was able to tackle the guy to the ground and get him off [Todd].”

Todd suffered injuries to the abdomen, skull, brain and lungs, including a “deep knife wound to the head,” his uncle previously said. 

Phillip Todd, a staffer for Sen. Rand Paul, was randomly stabbed in D.C. on March 25.  (Courtesy of the Todd family)

Despite that, Barnard and Todd were able to get away from the attacker before calling 911. 

“[Todd], who is a close friend, he’s an absolute champ, and he was able to run despite being stabbed in the head, having a skull fracture and brain bleeding and a punctured lung. He was able to run away from the scene,” Barnard, a D.C. resident and vice president at the American Conservation Coalition, told Rantz. 

DC POLICE CHIEF GETS PASSIONATE IN CRIME MEETING: ‘SOMETHING GOING ON WITHIN THE CULTURE OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE’

Todd underwent trauma surgery but was listed in stable condition days later and is expected to make a full recovery, his parents said, crediting their son’s friend with helping “prevent the wounds from being fatal.” He has since been released from the hospital. 

Lawmakers walk on the east front of the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, in Washington, DC.  (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The alleged attacker, Glynn Neal, was arrested by police and charged with assault with intent to kill. He had just been let out of prison one day prior to the stabbing. Neal was previously sentenced to 12 years and four months in prison in 2011 for forcing a woman into prostitution and threatening to kidnap or injure a person. 

Neal told officers that he heard a voice “telling him that someone was going to get him” right before he launched the attack, according to court documents obtained by the Associated Press. 

BIDEN WON’T VETO BILL BLOCKING THE SOFTENING OF DC’S CRIMINAL CODE

Sen. Paul, R-Ky., who said in the summer of 2020 that he was attacked himself by “an angry mob of over 100” in Washington, D.C., expressed disbelief that the suspect who attacked his staffer had been let out of jail less than 24 hours earlier. 

“It makes me think we’re in the Third World. I wonder whether Washington, D.C., should be listed on dangerous places to travel like we do at the State Department for foreign countries,” Paul said on March 29. “Many of our major cities are really going to rot and ruin.” 

Sen. Rand Paul speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill on June 16, 2022, in Washington, DC.   (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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While violent crime is up just 3% so far this year in the nation’s capital, homicides have jumped 32%, according to police data. 

“In a city like DC, which I genuinely love… I’m incredibly happy to live there, but it has been noticeable seeing how much crime has ticked up, hearing stories from friends and colleagues,” Barnard told Rantz. 

“It’s definitely one of those things where, you’re aware of the fact that crime is going up, you hear those stories, and then it really brings it home when it happens to you.”

Paul Best is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to Paul.Best@fox.com and on Twitter: @KincaidBest. 

Rand Paul says new Wuhan documents show Fauci lied

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., says newly public documents revealing the extent of U.S. funding of coronavirus research in Wuhan, China, show that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) head Dr. Anthony Fauci lied during his previous testimony to Congress. 

Fauci has adamantly denied that the National Institutes of Health funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan. Paul blasted Fauci in a Tuesday tweet, saying that the NIAID director had “lied again.”

“And I was right about his agency funding novel Coronavirus research at Wuhan,” Paul said.

FAUCI, RAND PAUL TRADE ‘LYING’ ACCUSATIONS ABOUT GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCH IN HEARING ON DELTA VARIANT

Paul’s tweet followed a story in The Intercept that revealed the U.S. government pumped $3.1 million into American health organization EcoHealth Alliance to back bat coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).

According to the report, almost $600,000 of that federal moneywas partially used by the WIV to find and alter bat coronaviruses that could jump to humans and infect them.

Additionally, the documents revealed that experimental research on genetically engineered mice with human cell receptors was conducted at the Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment, and not the WIV as previously thought.

“The documents make it clear that assertions by the NIH Director, Francis Collins, and the NIAID Director, Anthony Fauci, that the NIH did not support gain-of-function research or potential pandemic pathogen enhancement at WIV are untruthful,” Rutgers University chemical biology professor Richard Ebright wrote in a Tuesday Twitter thread.

Paul and Fauci – both medical doctors by training – have not minced words when butting heads with each other.

The Kentucky Republican accused Fauci of “lying” about gain-of-function research during a July hearing on the COVID 19 delta variant.

“I have never lied before the Congress, and I do not retract that statement,” Fauci said. He added that the research Paul referenced was “judged by qualified staff up and down the chain as not being gain of function.” 

Fauci added: “You do not know what you are talking about quite frankly and I want to say that officially.”

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Paul’s response was that the NIH’s judgment “defines… away” work that essentially was gain-of-function research.

“You’re dancing around this because you’re trying to obscure responsibility,” Paul added.

Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed reporting.

Houston Keene is a reporter for Fox News Digital. You can find him on Twitter at @HoustonKeene.

Rand Paul says new Wuhan documents show Fauci lied

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., says newly public documents revealing the extent of U.S. funding of coronavirus research in Wuhan, China, show that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) head Dr. Anthony Fauci lied during his previous testimony to Congress. 

Fauci has adamantly denied that the National Institutes of Health funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan. Paul blasted Fauci in a Tuesday tweet, saying that the NIAID director had “lied again.”

“And I was right about his agency funding novel Coronavirus research at Wuhan,” Paul said.

FAUCI, RAND PAUL TRADE ‘LYING’ ACCUSATIONS ABOUT GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCH IN HEARING ON DELTA VARIANT

Paul’s tweet followed a story in The Intercept that revealed the U.S. government pumped $3.1 million into American health organization EcoHealth Alliance to back bat coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).

According to the report, almost $600,000 of that federal moneywas partially used by the WIV to find and alter bat coronaviruses that could jump to humans and infect them.

Additionally, the documents revealed that experimental research on genetically engineered mice with human cell receptors was conducted at the Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment, and not the WIV as previously thought.

“The documents make it clear that assertions by the NIH Director, Francis Collins, and the NIAID Director, Anthony Fauci, that the NIH did not support gain-of-function research or potential pandemic pathogen enhancement at WIV are untruthful,” Rutgers University chemical biology professor Richard Ebright wrote in a Tuesday Twitter thread.

Paul and Fauci – both medical doctors by training – have not minced words when butting heads with each other.

The Kentucky Republican accused Fauci of “lying” about gain-of-function research during a July hearing on the COVID 19 delta variant.

“I have never lied before the Congress, and I do not retract that statement,” Fauci said. He added that the research Paul referenced was “judged by qualified staff up and down the chain as not being gain of function.” 

Fauci added: “You do not know what you are talking about quite frankly and I want to say that officially.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Paul’s response was that the NIH’s judgment “defines… away” work that essentially was gain-of-function research.

“You’re dancing around this because you’re trying to obscure responsibility,” Paul added.

Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed reporting.

Houston Keene is a reporter for Fox News Digital. You can find him on Twitter at @HoustonKeene.

Rand Paul brings colorful props to Senate floor to call out wasteful research: ‘Lizards on a Treadmill’

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., arrived on the Senate floor Friday morning accompanied by a stack of colorful poster boards to rail against “ridiculous” taxpayer-funded research at the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies.

Paul, a fiscal conservative, delivered a 32-minute speech Friday morning to oppose the bipartisan Endless Frontier Act that would expand science and technology research that proponents say will help the U.S. counter China. Paul warned of the $28 trillion national debt and said the U.S. should be reining in wasteful spending and not borrowing more money from China to fund such legislation. 

“I don’t think this bill makes us stronger. In fact, I think the Chinese sit back … and laugh at America thinking we’re going to be stronger by borrowing more money from China,” Paul said. “So I just don’t think it makes us any stronger at all. I think it makes us weaker. It would be one thing if it weren’t being so horribly wasted.”

CHINA TOYING WITH BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AT EVERY TURN

To make his point about wasteful spending, Paul cracked out a number of poster boards to highlight specific research projects that he said taxpayers would be astounded to know their dollars are funding. Among the projects he highlighted were: $357,000 to study “Cocaine and Risky Sex Habits of Quail” and $1.6 million for researching “Lizards on a Treadmill.” 

One poster board featured legendary singer Dolly Parton to highlight that Uncle Sam is spending $250,000 to send “kids in Pakistan to Space Camp and Dollywood.” Another claimed the National Science Foundation siphoned off $700,000 from an autism research grant to figure out whether astronaut Neil Armstrong used the word “a” when he landed on the moon in 1969 in his famous “one giant leap for mankind” quote.

Paul returned for a brief 7-minute encore speech later in the morning and then passed the baton to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who also raised spending concerns on the legislation. Paul went after waste at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including “$2 million in research to see if using a hot tub can lower stress” and said the federal government also spent “$3 million to study whether or not humans will eat enough ants to keep the globe from warming.”

SENATE VOTE ON BIPARTISAN JAN. 6 COMMISSION DELAYED OVERNIGHT

Paul said Americans may be alarmed by such frivolous studies, but it happens routinely “because we never vote for less money. It’s always more.”

“Somebody’s got to point out that the waste and abuse of money goes on,” Paul said. 

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After Paul’s speech, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced the Senate will table a final vote on the research and innovation legislation until after the Memorial Day holiday so the Senate can move on to a vote Friday on forming a Jan. 6 commission to investigate the Capitol riot. 

Rand Paul brings colorful props to Senate floor to call out wasteful research: ‘Lizards on a Treadmill’

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., arrived on the Senate floor Friday morning accompanied by a stack of colorful poster boards to rail against “ridiculous” taxpayer-funded research at the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies.

Paul, a fiscal conservative, delivered a 32-minute speech Friday morning to oppose the bipartisan Endless Frontier Act that would expand science and technology research that proponents say will help the U.S. counter China. Paul warned of the $28 trillion national debt and said the U.S. should be reining in wasteful spending and not borrowing more money from China to fund such legislation. 

“I don’t think this bill makes us stronger. In fact, I think the Chinese sit back … and laugh at America thinking we’re going to be stronger by borrowing more money from China,” Paul said. “So I just don’t think it makes us any stronger at all. I think it makes us weaker. It would be one thing if it weren’t being so horribly wasted.”

CHINA TOYING WITH BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AT EVERY TURN

To make his point about wasteful spending, Paul cracked out a number of poster boards to highlight specific research projects that he said taxpayers would be astounded to know their dollars are funding. Among the projects he highlighted were: $357,000 to study “Cocaine and Risky Sex Habits of Quail” and $1.6 million for researching “Lizards on a Treadmill.” 

One poster board featured legendary singer Dolly Parton to highlight that Uncle Sam is spending $250,000 to send “kids in Pakistan to Space Camp and Dollywood.” Another claimed the National Science Foundation siphoned off $700,000 from an autism research grant to figure out whether astronaut Neil Armstrong used the word “a” when he landed on the moon in 1969 in his famous “one giant leap for mankind” quote.

Paul returned for a brief 7-minute encore speech later in the morning and then passed the baton to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who also raised spending concerns on the legislation. Paul went after waste at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including “$2 million in research to see if using a hot tub can lower stress” and said the federal government also spent “$3 million to study whether or not humans will eat enough ants to keep the globe from warming.”

SENATE VOTE ON BIPARTISAN JAN. 6 COMMISSION DELAYED OVERNIGHT

Paul said Americans may be alarmed by such frivolous studies, but it happens routinely “because we never vote for less money. It’s always more.”

“Somebody’s got to point out that the waste and abuse of money goes on,” Paul said. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

After Paul’s speech, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced the Senate will table a final vote on the research and innovation legislation until after the Memorial Day holiday so the Senate can move on to a vote Friday on forming a Jan. 6 commission to investigate the Capitol riot. 

Rand Paul claims victory in fight over PPP money to Planned Parenthood in Senate COVID relief bill

GOP Sen. Rand Paul said Friday he was “successful” in preventing the Senate coronavirus relief bill from including a provision that would provide Paycheck Protection Program assistance to Planned Parenthoods across America, Fox News has learned.

The senator’s office on Friday said he “forced” Democrats to remove the provision that would have allowed every Planned Parenthood across America to receive funds through the PPP, which “was always intended for small businesses.”

SENATE GOP SLAMS ‘PRICEY PARTISAN PET PROJECTS’ IN CORONAVIRUS RELIEF BILL 

“Democrats knew this was never about COVID relief or helping small businesses,” Paul, R-Ky., told Fox News. “It was a shameless attempt to fund their radical agenda on the taxpayers’ backs, and I was successful in preventing that from happening by stopping these funds from going to abortion mills.”

According to Paul’s office, the House-passed version of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package included a provision that would treat individual Planned Parenthood locations as “separate and distinct entities,” making them eligible for federal assistance under the PPP.

Paul’s office pointed to the “original congressional intent” of the PPP — established last year at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic — which was to limit large and well-financed groups from receiving a loan and instead provide relief to small businesses affected by COVID-19.

Sources told Fox News that Senate Democrats had planned to waive affiliation rules for nonprofits to provide paycheck protection loans to Planned Parenthoods in the House version of the bill, but that Paul “strenuously” argued to the Senate parliamentarian that the waiver would “only benefit” Planned Parenthood.

Fox News has learned that before the parliamentarian was able to rule on the arguments presented, Democrats filed an updated version of the bill that did not include the provision, in what Paul’s office called “a concession that avoided setting a precedent.”

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment when asked about Paul’s push. 

House Democrats passed the nearly $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill on a mostly party-line vote over the weekend, sending the massive package to the Senate as lawmakers rush to provide a fresh round of aid before key unemployment programs expire.

Senate Democrats are pushing to pass its own version of the bill this week, which will look different from the House proposal—most notably excluding the $15 minimum wage increase after the parliamentarian ruled that its inclusion violates budget rules.

HOUSE OKS $1.9T CORONAVIRUS BILL — WITH 2 DEMOCRATS VOTING AGAINST IT

Democrats are using a procedural tool known as budget reconciliation to pass the legislation without any Republican support and are therefore limited as to what provisions they can include. And given their thinnest-possible majority in the Senate, the party needs to secure the support of all 50 members across the ideological spectrum, with Vice President Kamala Harris then able to cast a tie-breaking vote.

If the Senate passes a different version of the emergency aid bill, the House will either have to vote on that measure — a potentially risky move with progressives threatening to withdraw their support unless it includes a $15 minimum wage — or the two chambers will need to meet to draft a final bill.

The proposal contains a third $1,400 stimulus check for Americans earning less than $75,000 annually, increases jobless benefits to $300 a week through the end of September, expands the child tax credit to up to $3,600 per child, includes $350 billion for state and local government funding and allocates $170 billion for K-12 schools and higher education institutions to cover reopening costs.

Most Republicans are expected to vote against the massive spending measure, which will push the nation’s already staggering debt to nearly $30 trillion if passed. Congress already passed about $4 trillion in relief measures under former President Donald Trump, pushing the deficit to a record $3.1 trillion in fiscal year 2020 — which doesn’t include the $900 billion relief package lawmakers approved in December.

Lawmakers are racing to send the legislation to Biden’s desk before March 14, when more than 11 million Americans will lose their jobless aid when two key federal jobless aid programs created a year ago under the CARES Act — and extended in the $900 billion relief package that Congress passed in December — lapse.

Rand Paul calls for FBI arrests, investigation into ‘mob’ he believes ‘would have killed us,’ if not for police

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told “Fox & Friends” he believes he would have been killed if not for the police when he and his wife were surrounded and attacked by a “mob” yelling threats and pushing police upon exiting the White House after President Trump‘s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) Thursday night.

“It was horrific,” the Republican senator — who had part of his lung removed due to a complication from the 2017 assault by his neighbor — told host Steve Doocy of the “unhinged” mob that continued to get bigger and bigger.

SEN. RAND PAUL THANKS DC COPS FOR SAVING HIM FROM ‘CRAZED MOB’ AFTER RNC

“They’re attempting to push the police over to get to me, so at one point they push a policeman backwards, he stumbles and he’s trying to catch his balance and I catch the back of his flak jacket to stabilize him to make sure he’s OK because he’s our defense,” Paul explained. “If he’s down, the mob’s loose on us.”

If not for the police, Paul said he could’ve been killed or recovering in the hospital, adding that people followed him into the hotel.

“I truly believe this with every fiber of my being, had they gotten at us they would have gotten us to the ground, we might not have been killed, might just have been injured by being kicked in the head, or kicked in the stomach until we were senseless,” he explained.

GRAPHIC LANGUAGE WARNING FOR TWEETS

“You’ve seen the pictures of what they do to you. If the police are not there, if you defund the police, if we become Portland, if America becomes Portland, what’s going to happen is people are going to be pummeled and kicked in the head and left senseless on the curb,” he said. “That would have happened to us, I promise you, had we not had the D.C. Police to support us, we are thankful we have police, and we’ve got to wake up. We can’t have the whole country, we can’t have Joe Biden rule the country and have no police. I mean, we can’t walk down the street in D.C. safely now. That’s how bad it is.”

Paul was trying to get to his hotel across the street from the White House, but it was blocked by protesters, so he said the Secret Service instructed him, his wife, Kelley, and two female friends to get on a bus, which took 45 minutes to get through all the mobs, and then he planned to get an Uber to get dropped off at the hotel, but the streets were blocked and no one would let them through.

“They were shouting threats to us, to kill us, to hurt us, but also threats saying shout, shouting ‘say her name,’ Breonna Taylor, and it’s like you couldn’t reason with this mob, but I’m actually the author of the Breonna Taylor law to end no-knock raids, so the irony is lost on these idiots that they’re trying to kill the person who’s actually trying to get rid of no-knock raids,” he said.

Paul said he’s authored 22 criminal justice reforms with President Trump and former President Barack Obama, but the demonstrators were still yelling: “We’re not going to let you go alive unless you’ll say you’re for criminal justice reform.”

The Pauls were unharmed, but the senator is still calling on the FBI to make arrests and conduct an investigation into the “interstate criminal traffic being paid for across state lines” because people have already been killed in other cities.

“I believe there are going to be people who are involved with the attack on us that actually were paid to come here, are not from Washington, D.C., and are sort of paid to be anarchists,” he said. “This is disturbing because really, if you’re inciting a riot that’s a crime, but if you’re paying someone to incite a riot that person needs to go to jail as well.”

“They were inciting a riot and they would have killed us had the police not been there,” the senator added.

He slammed the Democratic presidential ticket for violence in Democrat-run cities.

“It’s become so dangerous for us and I don’t hear Joe Biden or Kamala Harris saying one thing about the violence. This mob is their voters. This is the new Democrat party, and if we don’t resist this, the United States is going to become Portland. We’re going to become Chicago. All of these failed cities Democrats have run, the president said in his speech,” he said. “If we allow them to take over the White House, we are going to become Portland, the country will be on fire, we have to have law and order and we have to support the police. I can’t say that strong enough.”

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Hundreds of protesters had gathered outside the White House on Thursday evening as Trump prepared to give his speech from the South Lawn.

Fencing was set up along the perimeter of the White House to keep protesters away, but shouts could be heard from the South Lawn.

Protesters yelled, “No justice, no peace!” and “Join us!” while holding anti-Trump and Black Lives Matter signs, beating drums and playing other music.

Rand Paul tells Kentucky gov to ‘take a step back’ for threatening mandatory quarantine for church-goers

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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Kentucky’s Gov. Andy Beshear to “take a step back” on Friday after the governor warned residents that they would be forced to self-quarantine for 14 days if they attended an in-person Easter church service — due to the risk of the spread of the coronavirus.

“Taking license plates at church? Quarantining someone for being Christian on Easter Sunday? Someone needs to take a step back here,” he tweeted

THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK, STATE-BY-STATE

Beshear, a Democrat, announced this week that people seen taking part in mass gatherings — including in-person church services — would have license plate numbers taken, which would in turn be given to local health departments — who would force the offender to go into quarantine.

In this March 5, 2019, file photo, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.  (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

“I think we’re down to seven churches statewide that are thinking about having an in-person service,” Beshear told reporters. The governor has warned that churches should switch to virtual or drive-in services to accommodate worshippers while protecting public health.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

It comes before Easter Sunday, one of the busiest and most important days in the Christian calendar — but one where worship has been severely restricted due to the coronavirus crisis. While a number of churches have imposed restrictions on their own, states across the country have gone on to impose limits on churches that have carried on with in-person services.

“I hear people say, ‘It’s my choice,'” Beshear, who serves as a deacon in his local church, said. “Well, it’s not the person next to you’s choice … This is the only way that we can ensure that your decision doesn’t kill somebody else, that your decision doesn’t spread the coronavirus in your county and in your community.”

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Beshear reported 242 more coronavirus cases statewide Friday, raising the total to nearly 1,700 since the outbreak began. Eleven more virus-related deaths brought Kentucky’s death toll to 90.

Paul, who is also a physician, announced earlier this week that he had tested negative for the virus after he had been diagnosed with it and placed under quarantine last month. He has since started volunteering at a local hospital.

Fox News’ Samuel Chamberlain and The Associated Press contributed to this report.