As the United Kingdom prepares to vote on whether to exit the European Union, one senator and former presidential candidate weighed in on the debate, saying Britain should never have joined the EU.

“I believe the UK should never have joined in the first place,” said Sen. [crscore]Rand Paul[/crscore] speaking to Breitbart London. Paul is the latest in a string of US officials to comment on the UK’s referendum. (RELATED:What is Brexit? Everything You Need To Know About Britain’s EU Referendum)

The British people will decide Jun. 23 whether the country will remain in the EU or will opt for Brexit and forge a new path as an independent nation.

In the wake of the Brussels terrorist attacks on March 22, which has so far left 35 people dead and wounded more than 300, the Brexit debate has been dominated by the issue of security.

Both the Leave and Remain campaigns have attempted to show how Britain would be safer if their side triumphs June 23. Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus took to the pages of The Sunday Telegraph to warn that Western security would be at risk if the UK voted to leave the EU. (RELATED: Petraeus Warns Brexit Will Endanger The West)

“Given the dangers and challenges that threaten us around the world, this is a moment when the west and its institutions, including the EU, need to be drawing together – not pulling apart,” Petraeus argued. But terrorism experts are not united behind Petraeus’s view. The former heads of both of the CIA and the Britain’s MI6 have argued the UK would be safer post-Brexit.

“I’ve never been convinced by the scaremongering stories that a British exit from the EU would be cataclysmic for security,” said Robin Simcox, terrorism and national security expert at the Heritage Foundation, to The Daily Caller News Foundation.

President Barack Obama will visit the UK April 22 and is expected to endorse the Remain campaign at a press conference with Prime Minister David Cameron. In anticipation of the president’s visit, more than 100 members of parliament signed a letter to the U.S. ambassador in London warning him to avoid intervening in the UK’s referendum. (RELATED: More Than 100 UK Politicians Tell Obama To Keep Out Of Brexit Debate)

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