Washington (CNN) Just days after Rand Paul's presidential campaign launched in early April, his father, Ron Paul, delivered a dire message to anyone who would listen: economic collapse was nigh.

"It's coming! It's coming!" Paul exclaimed during an interview with Fox Business

Though Paul's son is running to take charge of the very nation he believes will soon implode, that apparently hasn't been a reason to modulate his sky-is-falling proclamations.

As part of an infomercial for Stansberry & Associates Investment Research, Ron Paul warned that a currency crisis "of epic proportions" would arrive soon and prophesied that life in America was "guaranteed to end in disaster" as "a total breakdown of the stock market" would lead to "civil unrest" and "authoritarian clampdowns." Paul said people could avoid -- and even benefit from -- the collapse by purchasing Stansberry's "Survival Blueprint" for weathering the coming catastrophe for $49.50.

Ron Paul has been making predictions like this for years, but the latest round of proclamations raises questions about whether his outspokenness will reflect poorly on Rand Paul's campaign and complicate his efforts to broaden his appeal.

So far, he hasn't used his father as a surrogate on the campaign trail. When asked by CNN's Michael Smerconish on Saturday if he would play a larger role in his son's campaign, the elder Paul indicated he was going to stay on the sidelines.

"It's his show right now and I don't want to distract from what he's doing," he said.

On the heels of his recent fight against the National Security Agency and controversial comments about the GOP's history in the Middle East, Rand Paul is struggling to bring in more traditional Republicans while harnessing his father's energetic supporters.

While Rand Paul often discusses topics that his father's warnings are rooted in, such as a need for sound monetary policy and debt reduction, he hasn't echoed his father's certainty about economic collapse.

Photos: Rand Paul's political life Photos: Rand Paul's political life U.S. Sen. Rand Paul delivers remarks while announcing his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during an event in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday, April 7. Hide Caption 1 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul and his wife, Kelley, wave to supporters in Louisville on April 7. Hide Caption 2 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul speaks in Rochester, New Hampshire, prior to meeting potential voters in March. Hide Caption 3 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul walks on stage before speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington in September. Hide Caption 4 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul attends a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Syria in September. Hide Caption 5 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul speaks at a news conference in June about the U.S. role in Syria. Hide Caption 6 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Speaking at the University of California at Berkeley in March 2014, Paul speaks on the issues of privacy and curtailing domestic surveillance. Hide Caption 7 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul addresses the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference, where he easily won the presidential straw poll. Hide Caption 8 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life From left, U.S. Sens. Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand and Paul attend a March 2014 news conference to announce a new medical marijuana bill at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Hide Caption 9 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life In February 2014, Paul announced that he was suing President Barack Obama and top national security officials over the government's electronic surveillance program made public by intelligence leaker Edward Snowden. Hide Caption 10 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul leaves the Capitol in March 2013 after staging a filibuster over the nomination of CIA Director John Brennan. Hide Caption 11 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Ethics laws prevent senators from accepting payment for any job other that their duties in Washington. So Paul, a veteran eye surgeon, performs pro-bono procedures to keep current on his practice. Hide Caption 12 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul speaks in Bowie, Maryland, in March 2013 during a discussion on reforming the criminal justice system. Hide Caption 13 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul and his father speak with supporters in Ames, Iowa, before the start of a 2012 presidential campaign event. Hide Caption 14 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul boards an elevator after attending a Republican caucus meeting in Washington in July 2011. Hide Caption 15 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul unveils his own version of the federal budget during a news conference in March 2011. Hide Caption 16 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul speaks to hometown supporters in Bowling Green, Kentucky, during his campaign for the Senate in November 2010. Hide Caption 17 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul and his family celebrate his 2010 Senate victory during an election night party in Bowling Green. Hide Caption 18 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Coming from his son's soccer game, Paul wears shorts and a suit jacket while preparing for his guest spot on a Fox News television program in May 2010. Hide Caption 19 of 20 Photos: Rand Paul's political life Paul waits to tour a mine in Pineville, Kentucky, in May 2010. Hide Caption 20 of 20

Asked whether he shared his father's expressed worries, Rand Paul told The Wall Street Journal that "I don't think anyone knows the future."

He added, "I'm concerned for the country, about how much debt we are piling up. It's a bad idea to borrow a million dollars a minute."

Rand Paul has a "built-in paradox in his campaign. He requires a lot of the passion and money of his dad's fan base, while needing to distance himself from some of his more out-there positions," said Matt Welch, editor of the libertarian Reason magazine. "It's a weird balancing act and always will be."

Spokespeople for Stansberry, Rand Paul and Ron Paul declined comment for this article.

But whether Rand agrees with him or not, Ron Paul doesn't think legacy is damaging his son's campaign.

"It probably helps more than it hurts," Paul said in an interview on Ora TV this week.

It's certainly not an unexpected challenge. Ron Paul been making predictions like this for years. In fact, longtime family observers said it would actually be strange for Ron Paul not to say these things.

"Apocalyptic messages and newsletters like this have been a part of his world for a majority of his adult life, so I don't find this particularly surprising in any way," Welch said of the doomsday predictions the elder politician made in April.

The infomercial is very similar to the message Ron Paul delivered in 2009, while the nation was still reeling from the Great Recession.

"I believe what we're moving toward now is the collapse of the dollar," Paul said six years ago in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "I think it's going to be much worse than what we've experienced."

Photos: A look at political families Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump introduces his son Donald Trump Jr. as he addressed a crowd this April in Indianapolis. Trump Jr. has said that if his father becomes president, he's interested in being his secretary of the Interior. Hide Caption 1 of 30 Photos: A look at political families Photos: Political families – Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton attend a State Department dinner in 2012. Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Hide Caption 2 of 30 Photos: A look at political families U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, left, and his twin brother then-San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Now secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro is a contender to be the Democratic vice-president nominee. Hide Caption 3 of 30 Photos: A look at political families Political families – Beau Biden embraces his father, Vice President Joe Biden, at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.. Before his death in 2015, Beau served as Delware's attorney general. Hide Caption 4 of 30 Photos: A look at political families Photos: Political families – U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell succeeded her husband, former U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Michigan, in the seat he held for 58 years until his retirement in 2015. Hide Caption 5 of 30 Photos: A look at political families Political families – Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, announced that she was running for Senate in Wyoming in 2014. Her bid set up an intra-GOP battle with U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, a three-time incumbent. She dropped her Senate bid in January 2014. Hide Caption 6 of 30 Photos: A look at political families U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Michigan, comes from a prominent family in that state's politics. His brother Carl Levin was the state's senior senator until his retirement in January 2015. And his uncle, Theodore Levin, was a federal judge. Hide Caption 7 of 30 Photos: A look at political families Photos: Political families – The night after John F. Kennedy won the 1960 presidential election this family portrait was made in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Sitting, from left, Eunice Shriver (on chair arm), Rose Kennedy, Joseph Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, head turned away from camera, and Ted Kennedy. Back row, from left, Ethel Kennedy, Stephen Smith, Jean Smith, President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Pat Lawford, Sargent Shriver, Joan Kennedy, and Peter Lawford. Hide Caption 8 of 30 Photos: A look at political families Photos: Political families – The late U.S. Sen. Prescott Bush, R-Connecticut, center, was the father of former President George H.W. Bush, left, and grandfather of former President George W. Bush, far left. 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The hiatus ended when U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III, D-Massachusetts, was sworn in 2013. He is the son of former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy and the grandson of the late U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy. Hide Caption 23 of 30 Photos: A look at political families Political families – Then-Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tennessee, left, and his son, Harold Jr. shake hands with supporters in this 1996 photo. Harold Ford Sr. announced earlier that year that he was retiring from the seat he had held for 22 years and Harold Ford Jr. won the seat that fall. Hide Caption 24 of 30 Photos: A look at political families Political families – Democratic New York state Sen. Jose M. Serrano is the son of U.S. Rep. Jose E. Serrano. Hide Caption 25 of 30 Photos: A look at political families Political families – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is the daughter of Frank Murkowski, who also represented Alaska in the Senate and was later the state's governor. 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In the 1980s and into the early 1990s, between stints in the House of Representatives, he shared similarly desperate warnings in his subscription newsletters, which have also sparked controversy for including racist language about minorities on welfare.

In one newsletter , Paul urged readers to prepare for a dystopian future in which "an IRS agent with an AK-47" with the "dead eyes of a mako shark" shakes down innocent Americans.

"It will be bad," the letter, circulated in 1993, read. "And it will only be the beginning."

Readers could avoid all this by signing up for his financial newsletter, "Surviving the New Money."