He appeared at the event several days after rebuking Ted Nugent. | M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Paul: No need to call president names

Sen. Rand Paul gently admonished his fellow conservatives Thursday, telling a group of tea party activists that it’s best to avoid divisive rhetoric, and that there’s no need to call the president names.

The comments came at a Washington gathering to celebrate five years of the tea party and sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots group.


The Kentucky Republican, who is weighing a 2016 presidential bid, appeared at the event several days after rebuking rock star Ted Nugent for describing President Barack Obama as a “subhuman mongrel.” (Nugent later apologized.)

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“There are times, and I don’t think it is our movement, but there are times when people are using language that shouldn’t be used,” he said. “I recently criticized someone for using some of that language. I’m not going to bring it up, but I will say, we can disagree with the president without calling him names.”

Last week, national scrutiny fell on Nugent and his controversial past when he appeared on the campaign trail with Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott. Paul was among the first Republicans to condemn the comments, tweeting: “Ted Nugent’s derogatory description of President Obama is offensive and has no place in politics. He should apologize.”

On Thursday, Paul continued: “We can disagree. I disagree with [Obama] almost all the time, OK, but I don’t call him names, and I’m polite to him when I meet him.”

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The audience in the Hyatt Regency ballroom on Capitol Hill featured several people bearing signs and wearing T-shirts denouncing Obama; one T-shirt called the president a string of pejoratives including “radical” and “Marxist.”

Paul, who has long been pushing for the Republican Party to expand its outreach to groups that have normally trended Democratic, touched on that theme again at the event.

He noted that the room was full of “average, middle-class people” who want the middle class to grow and help others get ahead.

“When we present our message, if we want a bigger crowd … our message has to be … one of optimism, one of inclusiveness, one of growth,” Paul said.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that one T-shirt worn at the event called Obama a “racist.”

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Nick Gass @ 02/27/2014 04:14 PM CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that one T-shirt worn at the event called Obama a “racist.”