“The View” co-host Ana Navarro and Sen. Rand Paul engaged in a heated debate Friday about using socialism as a fearmongering tactic.
Ms. Navarro — who identifies as Republican — mentioned how she lives among “tens of thousands” of Venezuela exiles in Miami and asked the Kentucky Republican why the GOP uses the country as an example of the dangers of socialism.
“You talk about Venezuela in your new book,” she noted, adding, “I get a lot of political ads from the Republican Party. Donald Trump has tweeted this. Many have tweeted this. If you vote for Democrats, they will turn the United States into Venezuela. Do you think that’s a fair statement to make?”
“Well, if you vote for a socialist, you might get socialism,” Mr. Paul replied.
Ms. Navarro replied: “Come on. Don’t do that. [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro is not a socialist. He’s a corrupt, murderous thug who is starving his people.”
When Mr. Paul said, “That’s not true,” Ms. Navarro responded, “Oh really? Maduro is not a thug? And a murderer?”
After several attempts to answer while being interrupted by Ms. Navarro, Mr. Paul asked for her to let him finish.
“No, I can’t let you finish if you’re not going to say Maduro is a murderous thug,” she said, with cheers from the audience. “Don’t mansplain me!”
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg then went to a commercial before Mr. Paul could respond.
The senator tweeted afterward: “.@ananavaro was shouting over my answer - which was Maduro’s violence and thuggery is made possible by the centralized power of his socialist government. @TheView should let guests answer!”
Mr. Paul was on the show promoting his new book “The Case Against Socialism.”
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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