President Donald Trump responded to Sen. Rand Paul‘s (R-KY) opposition to the “big, beautiful bill,” warning the senator that if he votes against it, the “GREAT people of Kentucky will never forgive him.”
In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump said if Paul votes against his megabill, he will only be greenlighting a “68% Tax Increase” and a U.S. debt default, while also “playing right into the hands of the Democrats.”
“If Senator Rand Paul votes against our Great, Big, Beautiful Bill, he is voting for, along with the Radical Left Democrats, a 68% Tax Increase and, perhaps even more importantly, a first time ever default on U.S. Debt. Rand will be playing right into the hands of the Democrats, and the GREAT people of Kentucky will never forgive him!” the president said.
Paul came out against Trump’s tax bill that has now made its way to the Senate after narrowly passing the House just over a week ago.
Last Sunday, the Kentucky senator indicated that a nonstarter for him is a $5 trillion debt ceiling hike included in the bill.
“I can’t vote to raise the debt ceiling $5 trillion,” Paul said. “There’s got to be someone left in Washington who thinks debt is wrong and deficits are wrong and wants to go in the other direction.”
Paul said he would back the legislation as long as the Senate scraps the debt ceiling hike in its version of the bill.
“I still would support the bill even with wimpy and anemic cuts if they weren’t going to explode the deficit,” he added.
Other senators, including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), have expressed similar concerns about the bill’s steep cost, and with Republicans’ slim majority in the Senate, they can only afford to lose three GOP votes to still pass the legislation along party lines.
Republicans have set a deadline of July 4 for the “big, beautiful bill” to reach Trump’s desk, but significant changes could be coming in the Senate version of the bill text.
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Despite the looming deadline, Trump last Sunday said he is open to “fairly significant” changes by GOP senators.
“I want the Senate and the senators to make the changes they want. It will go back to the House, and we’ll see if we can get them. In some cases, the changes may be something I’d agree with, to be honest,” the president said.