Rand Paul rightly emphasizes freedom, warns against censorship in victory speech
Christopher Tremoglie
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Rand Paul won his third term in the Senate tonight, defeating Democratic nominee Charles Booker. The Associated Press declared Paul’s victory shortly after 7 p.m. EST. Kentucky hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since Wendell Ford in 1992.
Paul ran on a platform of limited government, conservative principles, and the promise to investigate the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic thoroughly, as well as the origins of the virus. Paul, who has had several tense exchanges with Dr. Anthony Fauci over the last two years regarding COVID-19, expressed his concern over avoiding similar mistakes should another pandemic happen.
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“It’s not about Fauci going to jail, although that probably would be appropriate,” Paul said during a campaign event earlier this month. “It’s about finding the truth of the origins of the virus so this doesn’t happen again.”
Paul delivered a victory speech Tuesday night after the Associated Press’s projection.
“In this hour of victory, as a red wave spreads across America, we don’t come together to rejoice in the dissipation of power. We come together to reaffirm our support for the 10th Amendment — that powers not explicitly granted to the federal government are retained by the states and the people,” Paul said.
Throughout his career in the Senate, Paul has always championed freedom and liberty. He’s been an outspoken critic of the government overreach during the pandemic. Additionally, he’s also led the charge in confronting censorship from left-wing media groups and Big Tech. In his speech, Paul emphasized the importance of American freedom.
“We come together under the belief that government is instituted among men and women to preserve our God-given liberty — period! Our desire is not to rule over others but to largely leave people alone. It is this system of constitutional checks on power that has allowed America to become the free-est nation ever known,” Paul said. “With freedom has come great prosperity. But we do not choose freedom because it makes us rich. We choose freedom because it is part of our very nature.”
Additionally, he acknowledged the country’s divide. He stressed the necessity of coexisting while disagreeing. However, such freedom can only truly happen without extreme government overreach and interference. Anything else violates the heart of our country’s values and liberties listed in the Bill of Rights.
“Liberty, or the absence of government intrusion, should allow people of widely differing beliefs to live together, each according to their own beliefs,” Paul said. “To preserve this liberty, we must especially defend the freedoms our Founding Fathers chose to put first in the Bill of Rights: the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, the freedom to associate with whomever you choose.”
Paul also called for a halt in censorship of people’s speech, especially from Big Tech.
“While the First Amendment does not prohibit private censorship, our founders certainly prized free speech,” Paul proclaimed. “One can only imagine our founder’s reaction to see government actively engaged with private enterprise to censor speech. To protect free speech, Congress must, absolutely must, prohibit government’s collusion with Big Tech.”
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He warned of the dangers of the government controlling the flow of information to the people and determining what may or may not be “true.” In this era of restricting speech because it doesn’t align with particular political values, truer words may have never been spoken — by Paul or any other government official.
“The greatest originator of misinformation, the government, cannot be the arbiter of truth,” Paul said. “Both Left and Right need to wake up and acknowledge that government — should never be allowed to create any entity that even resembles a Ministry of Truth.”