Rand Paul’s Son Launched Drunken, Antisemitic Tirade at Rep. Mike Lawler
The outlet … said Paul told Lawler that if Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) loses his primary next week, “your people” will be to blame.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) was dining Tuesday night at the Tune Inn in Washington, D.C., with a friend and Reese Gorman, a reporter for NOTUS, when he was reportedly accosted by an intoxicated William Paul, the son of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
NOTUS reported that Paul began directing antisemitic remarks at Lawler. Apparently under the mistaken belief that the congressman is Jewish, Paul told Lawler that if Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) loses his primary next week, “your people” will be to blame.
[Note: Massie and Paul’s father, both libertarian-leaning Republicans from Kentucky, are close allies. A new poll shows Massie in danger of losing his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, as I reported on Wednesday.]
From NOTUS:
“My people?” Lawler asked Paul.
“Yeah, you Jews,” Paul responded.
“Do you think I’m Jewish?” Lawler asked. “I’m not.”
“Oh wow, I’m so sorry for calling you a Jew,” Paul said.
He then continued on a tirade about how Jews were “anti-American” and how Lawler and his “Jewish supporters” served Israel more than America. Lawler repeatedly pushed back and engaged with Paul, defending his support of Israel, and told Paul he was being antisemitic.
“Paul Singer serves Israeli interests, not American interests,” Paul said, referring to the GOP megadonor who is helping bankroll an anti-Massie super PAC. Singer is Jewish.
Restore Freedom PAC, a pro-Massie super PAC, has run an ad titled “LGBTQ Mafia” that had a picture of Singer with a rainbow Star of David behind him. Massie, a close ally of Sen. Paul in Kentucky’s delegation, is in a tight race against a Trump-backed primary challenger.
Paul reportedly told Lawler he “needs to watch more Tucker Carlson” and that Massie and his father “were the only lawmakers who care about the U.S.”
Finally, Lawler tried to end the conversation saying, “Well, you just seem to hate Jews, so there’s no point arguing anymore.”
According to the report, Paul replied, “Don’t put words in my mouth, Mike Lawler, I never said that.”
At that point, Lawler asked him to leave them alone and Paul responded with the middle finger. Aghast over the gesture, Lawler asked, “Did you just give me the middle finger?”
“I’m sorry, yeah, I did. I’m just really drunk. I’m going to leave,” he replied.
Mercifully, Paul did leave the restaurant. But not before he “knocked his barstool down and tripped over it.”
We are seeing an alarming rise in antisemitism across the country, and the incident that occurred on Tuesday night is a stark reminder of that. For an individual to belligerently confront me because they believed I was Jewish is shocking and unacceptable. Worse than that,… pic.twitter.com/jg63Swmzda
— Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) May 14, 2026
The following afternoon, Paul posted an online apology addressed to Lawler, Gorman, and Josh Christenson, the Washington bureau chief for the New York Post, whom I assume was the “friend” referenced above.
He wrote: “Last night, I had too much to drink and said some things that don’t represent who I really am. I’m sorry and today I am seeking help for my drinking problem.”
A community note attached to the post read, “Context needed: the specific things William Paul said while drunk included saying that if Rep Thomas Massie loses his primary it would be caused by Jews, and saying that “he hates Jews, hates gays and doesn’t care if they die.”
The note directed readers to CBS News’ coverage of the story.
Last night, I had too much to drink and said some things that don’t represent who I really am. I’m sorry and today I am seeking help for my drinking problem. @jchristenson_ @lawler4ny @reesejgorman
— William H. Paul (@TastyBrew1776) May 13, 2026
This wasn’t the first time Paul’s drinking had landed him in hot water. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence following a car accident. The Associated Press noted that his father was seeking the Republican presidential nomination at the time.
In 2013, he was arrested for assaulting a flight attendant. The charges were ultimately dropped.
Seems he has a history.https://t.co/lljvn82P4b
— JJVinegar (@JesseJVinegar) May 13, 2026
NOTUS reported that Paul has “previously worked for the conservative organization FreedomWorks and worked for multiple members of Congress up until last summer, according to Legistorm.”
Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey addressed this incident in his “Wednesday’s Final Word” column:
This is insane, not to mention idiotic. However, anyone familiar with his grandfather [former Texas congressman Ron Paul] Ron’s newsletters cannot be surprised by this. Jamie Kirchick did extensive research on his record in 2008. I’m hoping it skipped a generation with Rand, who has been remarkably disciplined and has rarely made reference to his father’s fringe following. And you’d better believe we should call this out just as much as we call out Democrats, with the caveat that William Paul isn’t in office or running for one.
Paul’s apology may close the immediate controversy, but the incident has already attracted broader attention because of both the nature of the remarks and his family’s political prominence.
Regardless of the apology, the incident is likely to linger because it touched multiple political fault lines at once: antisemitism, divisions within the Republican Party, and especially the contentious, closely watched upcoming congressional primary in Kentucky.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn.
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Comments
Watch more Tucker…
Right there tells you all you need to know
Hi Gonzo! I almost added those exact words to the post!
Did he learn his anti semitism at home ?
That, of course, is the big question. There was always a cloud over Ron. Rand has worked his whole career to avoid it, but now the question will start to be asked.
Massie any better? Pro-Massie PAC Attacks Trump-Backed Challenger for Having a Jewish, ‘LGBTQ Mafia’ Member Donor. With a rainbow Star of David and all.
“Massie, the Kentucky incumbent, is one of the most anti-Israel Republicans in Congress, criticizing U.S. support for Israel and voting against a resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. In 2023, Massie voted against a resolution that equated anti-Zionism with antisemitism. And most recently, he voted against continued funding for the Iron Dome defense system in Israel and did not support American intervention in Iran. (He has also drawn allegations of antisemitism for comments unrelated to Israel, such as when he compared COVID measures to the Holocaust in a 2021 Twitter post.)”
https://www.jta.org/2026/05/13/politics/jewish-republican-paul-singer-tarred-with-rainbow-star-of-david-in-kentucky-candidates-anti-lgbtq-ad
I don’t think support for Israel should be part of any “purity test” for conservatives.
Ok Ive posted on this before so I’ll be brief.
I agree support for Israel should not be a purity test.
Refusing to support anti-Israel factions should be in the purity test.
Consistently against foreign aid to any country is ok. Cherry picking against Israel is not.
Not supporting known terrorist groups should be in the purity test,
Accusing Americans including AIPAC which is a group of Americans of dual loyalty and
opposing US interests in favor of Israel is not ok.
Collectively accusing all Jews of something is not ok.
Criticizing specific Israeli policies is ok. Not recognizing the positives or Israels right to exist is not
Distorting middle East history is not ok.
I can go on and on but you get the idea.
That is a non-issue, as there was certainly not support being shown.
I believe antisemitism should be part of any purity test for decent human beings. Far too many Jew haters try to mask their antisemitism by claiming they’re just anti-Zionist. That includes people in the right.
I think it should, because in the real world the only reason anyone ever opposes Israel is antisemitism.
I can think of three non-antisemitic reasons why one might oppose Israel, but none of them are common in the real world, and all of them should lead someone to oppose Israel’s enemies even more. So if someone opposes Israel and supports its enemies there is a 99.9999% chance that they are motivated by antisemitism.
Criticism of policies/actions of the modern Nation of Israel isn’t antisemitic. Opposition to foreign aid and military aid to ANY other Nation isn’t antisemitism. Putting ‘America First’ means just that…. once we have our own domestic house in order, our Federal budget closer to balance, our National debt on a downward slope we can then look to assist elsewhere. Frankly I’m all for kicking the stuffing out of the Iranian regime but can we get back to delivering the curb stomping the Iranian regime has thoroughly earned instead of waiting for an agreement they ain’t gonna adhere to?
Blah, blah, blah. That’s the standard red herring, often put forth by antisemites. What the PAC did WAS antisemitic. No lectures what isn’t, please.
So to be clear you contend that criticism of the Nation State of Israel is in fact antisemitism? You also contend that lack of support for foreign aid/military aid is antisemitism?
Golly, that seems awfully similar to complaints from the usual suspects of race historians grievance grifters about shutting down USAID payments. Same for those who oppose all.sorts of things. Oppose public schools? You hate children. Point out fraud by a large number of Somali Immigrants? You’re a.racist. Want to deport 20 million illegal aliens? You must be xenophobic. IMO we should avoid tribalism of all forms as well as accusations of ists, isms, phobes without direct and overwhelming evidence that the person you’re accusing has earned it.
I wasn’t aware he was responsible for what a third party PAC did or didn’t do. Should we also review who is funding anti Massie PACs and draw any conclusions about those opposing Massie? If so then we should wonder why Miriam Adelson is shoveling $ into a KY HoR primary… that’s the same Adelson who flew convicted spy Jonathan Pollard to Israel after his incarceration where he was greeted by the Israeli PM, given housing and a pension from the Israeli gov’t.
I’d submit that if this was really about antisemitism then MS Adelson and others who’ve pumped in $20 million+ to primary Massie would instead use those resources to take on the no kidding neo nazi in Maine running a d/prog for Senate. Guy has made his antipathy for Israel and support of ‘palestinians’ quite clear, even literally sported a totenkopf nazi tattoo on his chest till he got caught but nah let’s go.after Massie instead.
It depends which policies. Economic policy, certainly, have at it. Educational policy, housing policy, environmental policy, all of that. Of its peculiar de facto constitution, absolutely.
But criticism of Israel’s policy of not allowing itself to be destroyed and its Jewish population expelled or stuffed in ovens, or of the extremely moderate and almost suicidally restrained actions that it takes to implement that policy, that is absolutely antisemitic (unless the criticism is of the moderation and restraint).
Mostly I agree with that. Every Nation State has the duty to effectively protect its Citizens and defend their interests. Some criticisms of the who/what/where/why/how as a Nations does so are valid. Obviously supporting the ‘palestinians’ is distinct from criticism of Israeli policies/actions. Potentially interrelated? Sure but not the same. Any of the stolen land, colonialism nonsense or calls of ‘from the river to the sea’ or other poorly disguised genocidal phasing with the practical effect of removing Israel as a Nation State are antisemitic.
Israel is as equally valid a Nation State as every other, not ‘less than’ any other… but not ‘more than’ either. The question of whether Zionism aka the creation of the modern Nation of Israel is a good or bad idea has long since been moot. Since the ’48 war of Independence it has been the reality and everyone should accept reality.
IMO the govt of Israel isn’t being forceful enough in eliminating its enemies to secure its people. In fairness the double standards and the biased international scrutiny applied to every action mostly made in bad faith as well as a % of domestic wokiestas particularly in their Judiciary all collectively hinder more robust kinetic operations by Israel.
In vino veritas.
Exactly.
When on a drunken tirade, it’s much safer to call somebody a fag.
He did that too, and it’s just as bad.
Christian Jew-hate is so profoundly, wicked, stupid and hypocritical.
Christianity is a religion founded by a Jewish carpenter. Christianity is an undeniable theological and historical offshoot of Judaism.
Without Judaism, Christianity doesn’t exist.
Guy, the issue is deeper. Until the last fifty-or-so years, Jew-hatred was deeply embedded in Christianity because of the Christian belief that Christianity had superceded Judaism (or more correctly, that Christianity was the New Israel). Having the old Israel around was a very inconvenient fact. Hence, the deep antipathy to Jews and Judaism. Fortunately, the idea of supercessionism has receded from the many flavors of Christianity. Nonetheless, as you can see today, the antipathy still lingers stoked by the fervid imagination of Jew-haters (Carlson, Owens, the NYT, Kristof, and Islam).
Indifference isn’t antipathy and that’s where a great many come down today, we don’t care for internal or externally applied tribal identity. Frankly I’m opposed to tribalism in all its forms but especially when one group believes it is somehow deserving of special positive consideration and equally so when one group believes this/that other group is deserving of special negative treatment. Group identity is a tool of the leftist socialist/commie wokiestas and IMO should be rejected. The ONLY group ID we should seek to have in the USA is that of patriotic, law abiding, tax paying, responsible members of our town, State as good Citizens of the USA.
Islam is different. Their pedophile founder got into hissy fit when the Jews refused to convert to islam and his adherents have never changed,
BTW: Islam believes they’ve superseded Christianity.
Last point: Some Christians perhaps most notably Catholics hated Jews because of their belief Jews killed Christ. It took a long time for the hierarchy to disavow this but this still comes up now and then.
“Some Christians perhaps most notably Catholics hated Jews because of their belief “Jews killed Christ. It took a long time for the hierarchy to disavow this but this still comes up now and then.”
Now and then? Every year during Mass during Lent and Easter. The Passion Play is repeated every year without fail.
Luther did exactly the same. He thought the Jews would join him, and when they didn’t he turned on them and became even more viciously antisemitic than the Catholics.
There’s still plenty of that around. People who believe that God broke his promise of an eternal covenant with the Jews and decided they must be punished for eternity.
I am far from practicing, having had bad experiences with organized religion, these days I’m mostly a Deist with a healthy respect/appreciation for the 10 Commandments (particularly the second half as organizing principles for civil society) and do my nest to turn the other other cheek to provide at least an opportunity for redemption and forgiveness….. but I don’t see how Christianity makes sense as separate religion from Judaism without the concept of a ‘new Covenant’ brought about through the birth, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ. Remove the concept of the ‘new covenant’ and you’re kinda left without Christ. That doesn’t mean Jews should be falsely portrayed as ‘killers of Christ’ and other nonsense, instead wouldn’t it make more sense for Christianity to view current Jews the same way the Apostles did in their era, as potential converts who already share many of the same religious beliefs?
Well said! See Jeremiah 31 where the New Covenant is described.
There is a view common among certain Christians today that the new covenant didn’t replace the old one, it’s just an easier and more generous alternative to the old one.
I think it’s like when your phone company announces a new plan that’s better than its existing one, and expects all its existing customers to be happy to switch, as well as to attract many new customers, but some customers are attached to the legacy plan and refuse to switch so the company keeps that one alive. Or something like that.
That’s a great analogy, but the problem is it doesn’t make logical sense. Either the old covenant needed updating/replacing or it didn’t. Christianity demands belief that Christ was sent to bring new Covenant so…I think any backsliding on that point is more about modern, woke, inclusive marketing/PR than theology and pushed by the same sects/congregations who refuse to apply standards and hold anyone accountable. The same.sorts of liberal sects which make bad faith claims conflating illegal aliens with sojourners.
Christianity does not make sense without a new Covenant. On that you are clearly correct. But that does not mean that Christianity is the new Israel or that it has superceded Judaism. It just means that Christianity a separate faith community that has sprung from Judaism which is a separate faith community. There was no reason for the antipathy Christianity towards Judaism and there is certainly no reason for it today.
The reason for Christianity’s historical antipathy to Judaism was that it was formed mostly by Greeks, who already hated Jews and imported that into their new religion. It didn’t have to be that way.
IMO your mixing different concepts. If God sends Christ to create a new Covenant it means the prior Covenant is at best flawed and should be ignored and at worst entirely superseded. Why else create a new/improved version if the prior version was still functional. There’s no way to justify Christianity as a necessary religion without also accepting it as a replacement ‘new Covenant’ for the prior Covenant. There’s way around claiming Christianity without accepting that ‘there is no path to the Father except through me’ IOW the new Covenant invalidated the prior Covenant. Some liberal denominations/sects of Christianity seek to minimize or avoid this.
That doesn’t mean Jews are evil or defective or unworthy of redemption. Not does it mean they should be discriminated against, persecuted, subjected to pogroms. IMO the Apostles showed the correct approach, seek converts among them.
Supersessionism, AKA “replacement theology”, is a Catholic invention (although not all Catholics adhere to it). It is no random coincidence that Carlson, Owens, Kelly, Bannon, and Fuentes are Catholics.
Read this. It’s long but important.
The Long Game
How a Network of Catholic Integralists, Russian Ideologues, and Media Provocateurs Are Systematically Dismantling the Evangelical Foundation of the American Right
by Insurrection Barbie
https://insurrectionbarbie.substack.com/p/the-long-game
Not exclusive to Catholic Church. I was taught this as child in mainline Methodist Church. Had plenty of discussion with cross section of protestants from all sorts of sects of Christianity and it is a very common theme.
My own anecdotal experiences show the ‘prosperity’ gospel churches and sects that don’t seem to want to apply the necessarily rigid standards of religious beliefs b/c it conflicts with their desire to be inclusive (gaining adherents with checkbooks).
why did he think he was jewish??
yeah,, but zealots wont understand
now,, is that “z”
or
“Z” ??
yeah
but everyone needs an enemy to solidify their own positions
whether that enemy is created organically or creatively
That’s something contemporary philosemitic Christians say and believe, but it isn’t historically accurate.
Jesus didn’t found Christianity. He would be shocked if he could have seen the religion that arose around his memory long after his death. That religion has almost nothing in common with his Jewish beliefs. And it was mostly shaped by Greeks, who imported their ancient rivalry with the Jews into the new religion. For most of its history, most forms of Christianity taught Jew-hatred; it’s only relatively recently that this is no longer the case. Even today, philosemitic Christianity is a Western, and particularly an American phenomenon, and it’s far from universal even there.
Even among evangelical Protestants, perhaps the most prominent example of Christian philosemitism, the older generation never bought it; Jimmy Carter and his family were typical, not outliers. And now the young generation coming up are questioning it and starting to revert to their great-grandparents’ views.
It’s sad, but not surprising, that you would not believe that the New Testament is true. Your comments about Jesus and Christianity are nonsense. And I question the accuracy of your depressing appraisal of evangelical Protestant attitudes toward Jews.
Obviously I don’t believe the New Testament is true. No Jew does. If you look at the teachings and stories that the New Testament attributes to Jesus, from a perspective educated in Judaism, it becomes clear that he was a faithful Jew who believed what Jews today believe. A little odd, perhaps; on the fringe of the mainstream, but still within it.
His criticisms of Pharisees, in particular, are well in line with similar criticisms recorded within the Pharisee movement itself. Jesus was a Pharisee, talking to other Pharisees and criticizing them from a Pharisee perspective. Far from denouncing Phariseeism or however you spell that, he was denouncing those within the movement whom he saw as bad Pharisees.
Christianity absolutely depends on a reinterpretation of the word “Messiah” to mean some kind of divine or supernatural being rather than an ordinary human, and of “salvation” as something spiritual rather than physical. That was alien to Jesus and to his immediate disciples.
I hope that the new generation of evangelical Protestants stick with their parents’ views rather than revert to those of their great-grandparents, but there are troubling signs that they’re not.
lol, the Holy Spirit does not exist in the New Testament because supernatural events stopped after the Old Testament, thus the New Testament is fiction. I will remember that in the morning when the wind blows and the sun rises.
The Kentucky congressional TDS and antisemitism doesn’t bode well for the State of Kentucky. Both Massie and Paul need to leave Congress.
Honestly they just confirmed every Democrat talking point that republicans are bigoted Jew and gay haters. They are such an embarrassment.
Democrats have absolutely no room to talk about antisemitism since they have actually embraced it. Only the fringe nutcases embrace it on the right.
While that is 100% true; you know the talking point is that Republicans are kmlans men in suits. Well this kind of hate from Massie and Paul just feeds into that.
Yes, and this is what keeps secular Jews (and even many Modern Orthodox Jews) voting Democrat, despite that being completely against their own interest. They’re afraid of the Republican boogeyman, and will put up with almost anything from the Democrats rather than risk changing. They see this and it confirms to them that they’re right.
It’s asinine for Christians and Jews to think they are just 2 different delicious flavors. Adherents of each religion think that adherents of the other are mistaken, but that doesn’t mean they have to hate each other.
oh no
hatred is an essential ingredient to the mix
Judaism makes more sense than Christianity. Various Christians have elucidated Christianity better, like Augustine. Sunday schools just teach you that it makes no sense.
Augustine: think the best of others instead of the worst. That’s why charity was soul-saving, before it came to mean money. Roughly, Christianity makes sense if you take the “next world” as today. Temporizing the essence, as Kenneth Burke calls it What something is is expressed by where it winds up, or vice versa. In this case, today is expressed by the next world.
“Sunday schools just teach you that it makes no sense.”
You must have had a very bad one.
I agree, of course, but if all you know of Judaism is from Levinas then you don’t know anything about Judaism, and can’t evaluate whether it makes more sense than Christianity. Levinas was not mainstream.
I say make an example of him. Stockades? Maybe the chair?
You sound like a troll.
Goofy, belligerent drunks do goofy belligerent drunken things when they’re on the sauce and often don’t need the sauce to be belligerent jerks. Lawler though undeserving of a drunken tirade is bit of weasel. Same guy who led the ‘SALT’ coalition to undo the cap on State local tax reductions from $10K set in ’17 under Trump 1.0 up to $40K to secure this group of member HoR support for big beautiful bill.
Paul’s son like TC should now be considered radioactive and avoided by all people of good will (and Republicans). Failure to do so raises questions about their morals and their intelligence as well as their suitability to participate in the public discourse,
Democrat rules. Change his name to Hunter, and this all goes away.
He could come out as trans and change his/her/its name to Chelsea! After switching to the democratic party his/whatever anti-Israel and Transness would fit right in.
In a state with likely 10 Jews ; Jews have become the central issue; yeah that would be about bigotry not “critiquing Israeli policy.” Imagine living in Alaska and having the main issue be Ukrainians and whether or not they are “transiting” our children. Yeah that would be bigoted and buying voters based on hatred for an “other.” Only when it’s Jews do we start debating supposed nuance ? Like calling Jewish Americans traitors is nuanced. Do you know whose a traitors Ticker “I love Russia snd Qatar” Carlson.
Please use a keyboard rather than dictation.
Wow, sorry for spelling errors it is the internet; you might want to try getting over it.
“I had too much to drink and said some things that don’t represent who I really am.”
False! Inebriation relaxes inhabitation so you are more likely to say things that you really believe but hold back. It doesn’t change the way you think.
Not really
I don’t think that’s how it works. Alcohol doesn’t mask who you really are, it reveals it.
“A person can be known in three ways: in his cups, in his wallet, and in his anger.”
That’s like reacting to a cancer diagnosis by swearing off x-rays.
Ron’s newsletters certainly had some iffy material, but he didn’t write it all himself, or even edit it himself, and there was always the possibility that he hadn’t read those articles properly, or that while they didn’t accurately reflect his beliefs, they didn’t offend him enough to make him fire whoever was responsible. His own pronouncements were more ambiguous, and could be understood charitably. I stuck by him despite it all until Sep-11-2001. His reaction to that seemed to be to stick his head in the sand and pretend that if we don’t think about it then it didn’t happen.
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