U.S. Sen. Rand Paul has a message for journalists who may want to take shots at his wife, Kelley Paul, during his run for the White House: “They better not.”

“She really doesn’t want to engage in the mud wrestling of politics, she wants to talk about her book and the stories of her family and interactions that she’s had with women and the women who have influenced her life and she’s excited to do that,” the Kentucky Republican said this morning during an appearance on Boston Herald Radio’s “Morning Meeting” program. “If anybody wants to be mean to her, though, they’ll have to answer to me.”

Noting that “so far, I don’t think I’ve seen anybody being too mean,” Paul told hosts Jaclyn Cashman and Hillary Chabot he and his family “thought long and hard” about the exposure running for president will bring before he decided to make a run at the Oval Office in 2016.

“There are always people — and I think the internet, it’s sort of like this whole idea of anonymity that there’s a certain amount of bullying that goes on by people but it’s best not to read, I think, all of that,” Paul said. “Unfortunately there’s a blurred line between official media and unofficial media now and that can be hard.”

Yesterday, Kelley Paul, campaigning by herself in New Hampshire, told the Herald she is apprehensive about the approaching media scrutiny of all aspects of her and husband’s life. The New York Times on Friday, for example, detailed the driving record of Marco Rubio’s wife, Jeanette.

“I don’t want to comment on anybody else’s particular situation, but that is exactly one of the things that every person in politics really has to look at, is that you live under a microscope and it can be intimidating, difficult, and you go into it with trepidation, for sure,” she said.

Rand Paul today also tackled the criteria that Fox News has said it will use to select which 10 Republican candidates will get to participate in a nationally televised primary debate in New Hampshire. Participants, the network announced, must earn an average of 1 percent or more in the five most recent polls.

“I think longer time periods with fewer people is actually more informative and I think makes for better television,” Paul said. “I don’t get to make the decision so it is kind of a moot point what I think about it.”

And while he didn’t say whether he supported the criteria, Paul, who will likely meet the threshold to participate in the debate, said “you can’t have 50 people up there.”

“You can’t even have 15 or 20 really, so there has to be some distinguishing characteristics and ultimately the media is going to have to figure this out,” Paul said, adding, “The party will have some say with it but I think ultimately the people hosting it will make the decision.”