We may be seeing the last days of the Rand Paul campaign for president, as he is falling behind further in the polls and is perceived to have little chance of winning the GOP nomination for president. Business Insider is asking if the Paul campaign is “completely collapsing.”

“The moment one veteran Republican strategist realized Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) was flailing as a presidential candidate came when he suddenly decided to take on Donald Trump last week at the first presidential debate,” Business Insider reported.

Paul, who once appeared on the cover of Time magazine and was described as the “most interesting man in politics,” has fallen flat as a presidential candidate, in the eyes of some. The attack on Donald Trump drew a swift counter-attack from The Donald.

“I feel sorry for the great people of Kentucky who are being used as a back up to Senator Paul’s hopeless attempt to become President of the United States — weak on the military, Israel, the Vets and many other issues. Senator Paul has no chance of wining the nomination and the people of Kentucky should not allow him the privilege of remaining their Senator,” Trump attacked back at Paul.

Rand Paul is “using the people of Kentucky,” says Donald Trump, who suggests Paul should “either run for senate or run for president,” Real Clear Politics is reporting. He then added that Paul should not “run for president and by the way, if (he doesn’t) make it, (he) will become your senator reluctantly.”

Rand Paul hit back at Trump, suggesting that the nomination of Trump as GOP nominee would cause the election of Hillary Clinton, the Inquisitr reported. He says it would guarantee that Republicans lose if Trump is the nominee. In the first GOP debate, Paul criticized Trump for buying and selling politicians.

“On Saturday, Paul spoke further about Donald Trump,” the Inquisitr reported, “calling him a ‘chameleon’ who ‘was pro-choice before he was pro-life,’ ‘liberal before he was conservative,’ and ‘a Democrat before he was a Republican.’ “

Paul said, “Ross Perot gave us Bill Clinton,” referring to the 1992 presidential election, “and Donald Trump will give us Hillary.”

Paul’s campaign recently had been shaken by indictments against two key staffers, Politico reported. The two had also worked for his father, Ron Paul, in 2012, for a pro-Rand Paul super PAC called America’s Liberty.

Is Rand Paul shrinking out of the presidential race quietly, or will he make a comeback and become a viable candidate? Only time will tell.

[Photo of Rand Paul from Time cover]