WASHINGTON — Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul on Thursday scrambled to explain his criticism of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, saying he agrees with its goal to end discrimination but questions the federal government imposing its will on businesses.
The political novice and Kentucky candidate issued a statement Thursday amid the fallout from a series of interviews in which Paul said he would have opposed forcing businesses to integrate under the law. Democrats seized on the comments to argue that Paul holds extremist views.
"I support the Civil Rights Act because I overwhelmingly agree with the intent of the legislation, which was to stop discrimination in the public sphere and halt the abhorrent practice of segregation and Jim Crow laws," Paul said in the statement, adding that the federal courts have settled many of the issues.
Paul added that the "federal government has far overreached in its power grabs," and cited President Barack Obama's health care law. He also said the liberal establishment is desperate to keep him from being elected.
On Wednesday, the day after his stunning primary rout, Paul was asked to explain his recent comments about the Civil Rights Act in separate interviews with National Public Radio and MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show." Paul had told The Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal last month that while he supports anti-discrimination laws, he challenges imposing those rules on private businesses.
Questioned by NPR on Wednesday about the Civil Rights Act, Paul said he is opposed to "institutional racism and I would've, had I'd been alive at the time, I think, had the courage to march with Martin Luther King to overturn institutional racism."
But Paul added: "I think a lot of things could be handled locally".
Paul is an eye doctor who had never run for elective office before the Senate primary. He says he shares many of the libertarian views of his father, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a presidential candidate in 2008. >>>
