Ron Paul has long opposed the TSA and has campaigned for its abolishment for years. Following an episode on Monday that left his son, Sen. Rand Paul, stranded in a Nashville airport, the presidential hopeful is asking for help to finally end the TSA.
Early Monday, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul triggered a false alarm while passing through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint on his way to Washington DC. As per TSA standards, the government-hired screeners on site asked the senator to submit to a personal pat-down. Rand Paul, however, had other plans. Senator Paul says he asked to be re-scanned. Shortly after 10 a.m., the senator’s Facebook page announced that he had been detained at the Nashville Airport by the TSA.
Hours later, his father, Texas congressman and Republican Party contender for the GOP nomination Ron Paul, addressed the matter on his official campaign website.
“The police state in this country is growing out of control. One of the ultimate embodiments of this is the TSA that gropes and grabs our children, our seniors and our loved ones and neighbors with disabilities.The TSA does all of this while doing nothing to keep us safe,” wrote the congressman. He added that, under his own “Plan to Restore America,” he aimed to save $1 trillion federal spending, a goal that would be reached in part by ending the TSA.
“We must restore the freedom and respect for liberty that once made American the greatest nation in human history. I am deeply committed to doing that as president of the United States,” added Congressman Paul.
On Tuesday, Ron Paul furthered his fight for ending the TSA by asking on his official website for campaign contributions so that he could help bring down the government agency if he can make it to the oval office. Only one day after the incident in Nashville, the older Paul asked his followers to donate towards an “End the TSA Money Bomb.” Within hours, he managed to bring in over $50,000 in donations.
“I’m proud of my son’s stand, but just imagine those who receive this kind of treatment every day in our nation’s airports and can’t fight back?” asked Congressman Paul. “The elderly. The disabled. Little kids,” he said, “All victims of an out-of-control police state that, while doing nothing to make us safer, is working overtime to strip away our freedoms, our rights and our basic dignity.”
