Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is raising concerns over John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani as potential secretary of state choices for President-elect Donald Trump, saying Mr. Trump should have someone in the position with a foreign policy worldview he championed on the campaign trail.
“I think Trump should pick a secretary of state that agrees with his foreign policy,” Mr. Paul said Tuesday on CNN.
“And the thing Donald Trump said over and over again was that he was opposed to the Iraq War and he learned that lesson that regime change in the Middle East was not a good idea,” he said.
“And yet, I don’t see Giuliani coming out with statements like that,” Mr. Paul said. “I certainly don’t see John Bolton — I think both of them have been big cheerleaders for the Iraq War and for more intervention in the Middle East.”
Mr. Bolton served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush. Mr. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, was a top Trump supporter during the 2016 campaign and is now part of the presidential transition team.
Mr. Paul, who had challenged Mr. Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, said Sen. Bob Corker, Tennessee Republican and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, would be “way better” than Mr. Bolton or Mr. Giuliani.
“He’s not in exactly the same place as I am on foreign policy, but I would call him a realist. I would call him a reasonable person,” Mr. Paul said. “I would call him a person who would seek peace as a first option, rather than war.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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