Paul took several shots at Cruz's requent references to Ronald Reagan. | AP Photos Paul calls out Cruz in op-ed

Sen. Rand Paul blasted fellow GOP Sen. Ted Cruz’s frequent references to Ronald Reagan on Monday, deepening the rift between the two potential 2016 presidential candidates.

In an op-ed for Breitbart News, Paul (R-Ky.) took several shots at Cruz for espousing a foreign policy framework in the mold of Reagan. He also criticized Cruz’s frequent bashing of the GOP for nominating insufficiently conservative presidential candidates like Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney.


“I don’t claim to be the next Ronald Reagan nor do I attempt to disparage fellow Republicans as not being sufficiently Reaganesque,” Paul wrote. “I will remind anyone who thinks we will win elections by trashing previous Republican nominees or holding oneself out as some paragon in the mold of Reagan, that splintering the party is not the route to victory.”

Though Paul never names Cruz in the op-ed, his comments are clearly aimed at the Texas Republican, who is prone to opine about Reagan and offer the former president as an example for today’s GOP to follow.

( Also on POLITICO: Ted Cruz's CPAC speech)

And at last week’s CPAC conference, Cruz said previous GOP presidential candidates were good men but their losing campaigns serve as reminders that “when you don’t stand for principle, Democrats celebrate.” Cruz also offered Reagan and Paul’s father, Ron, as the two Republicans who have most energized young people.

The debate over how to respond to the crisis in Ukraine has highlighted a split between the two senators who are largely in step on domestic policy. In interviews last week, Paul said he is wary of giving money to Ukraine due to its history of corruption while Cruz said he will wait to see what comes out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

And when speaking more broadly of his world view, Cruz distances himself from Paul’s libertarian foreign policy views. On Sunday, Cruz bluntly said of Paul: “I don’t agree with him on foreign policy.”

( PHOTOS: Key quotes from Ted Cruz)

But Paul said Monday that there’s actually broad agreement among Republicans with regard to Ukraine: Isolate Russia and hold back military action. Those who say otherwise, Paul said, are using “this time to beat their chest.”

“What we don’t need right now is politicians who have never seen war talking tough for the sake of their political careers,” Paul said. “Today’s Republicans should concentrate on establishing their own identities and agendas, as opposed to simply latching onto Ronald Reagan’s legacy—or worse, misrepresenting it.”

( QUIZ: Do you know Rand Paul?)

Cruz’s office declined to comment on Paul’s remarks.