Glenn Beck, Rand Paul laugh over Paul's obviously insincere endorsement of Mitch McConnell

Paul's stirring and heartfelt justification: "Uh, because he asked me"

Published February 10, 2014 10:10PM (EST)

Rand Paul                      (Jeff Malet, maletphoto.com)
Rand Paul (Jeff Malet, maletphoto.com)

With the polls showing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell trailing his potential Democratic opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes, McConnell's Tea Party-backed primary opponent, Matt Bevin, is starting to gain some momentum.

This puts McConnell's fellow senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, in a bit of a pickle. For while Paul is widely thought of as a friend to the Tea Party movement, and an infusion of new blood into the GOP in general, he's also already on-record in support of McConnell.

Despite the fact that Paul only made it into the Senate by besting McConnell's hand-picked candidate — and despite Paul-allied McConnell staffers' low level of enthusiasm for working for McConnell — it seems the two have reached an understanding of sorts.

Speaking with Paul on his radio show recently, Glenn Beck tried to put an end to all of that. In a video posted to YouTube on Saturday, Beck launches his interview with Paul by asking "the hardest question" he had: "Why are you endorsing Mitch McConnell?"

After a pause of a couple of seconds that feels like an eternity, Paul responds. "Um, I'm here in Texas to endorse Don Huffines," Paul jokes, implicitly acknowledging his lack of enthusiasm for McConnell. Beck immediately laughs, and Paul can be heard to chuckle along with him.

Making a second attempt to explain why he's on Team McConnell, Paul offers a slightly less disingenuous answer. "Because he asked me. He asked me when there was nobody else in the race, and I said yes."

"Well, Al Gore has asked me to change my opinion on global warming," Beck said, "and I don't do that."

Check out video of Beck and Paul laughing it up below:

[h/t Talking Points Memo]


By Elias Isquith

Elias Isquith is a former Salon staff writer.

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