Sen. Rand Paul teases ‘something very important to say’ on 2024 race

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) teased a “very important” statement coming Friday morning about the 2024 presidential election.

In doing so, Paul left open the possibility of a presidential endorsement in the 2024 race but did not explicitly indicate either way.

“I’ve stayed out of the Republican Presidential Primary so far – but I’ve seen enough,” Paul wrote Thursday in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “That’s why tomorrow morning I will have something important to say. Don’t miss it!”

Paul attached a short clip to his online post Thursday, conveying a similar message.

“As you know, I’ve been pretty quiet about the presidential race, which is kind of unusual for me,” he said.

Former President Trump, the front-runner in the GOP primary, has garnered at least 19 endorsements from U.S. senators, according to The Hill’s latest count, of the total 49 GOP senators. Republican candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis do not have any U.S. Senate endorsements.

Paul, a libertarian who has at times bucked his party on policy issues, is a former political rival of Trump’s but ultimately backed his campaign in 2016 and endorsed him in 2020. He’s differed with Trump on some policy matters but has been a fierce defendant of Trump in the wake of his four criminal indictments.

On Wednesday, Paul met with independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the U.S. Senate. Both Paul and Kennedy have been critical of vaccine mandates and have targeted Anthony Fauci for his handling of COVID-19 related issues.

In an interview with Politico on Wednesday, after meeting with Kennedy, Paul praised Kennedy’s “skepticism of crony capitalism, I like his skepticism that large parts of the regulatory apparatus of the government have been taken over by big business.”  

“There are a lot of things that he talks about that he and I agree on, and my father has known him,” Paul told Politico. “The conversation is useful, and we’re gonna continue to talk to him.”

Paul also told Politico that he’s met with most GOP presidential candidates at this point and that he wasn’t ready to make an endorsement, as of the interview Wednesday.