A former deputy press secretary for President Barack Obama who later founded a super PAC to support Obama’s 2012 reelection efforts said he believes Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will be the Republican presidential nominee in 2016.

In an appearance on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show on Tuesday, Bill Burton said of 2016, “What I think’s gonna happen is Rand Paul’s going to be [the] nominee.”

“He starts with huge advantages on fundraising, on field,” Burton said. “I think if it’s Hillary clinton, or any other democrat, it’s going to be a generational-type landslide election.”

Burton then dismissed Paul as a “lunatic” but said he believed Paul would win the nomination to a skeptical Maddow.

“I will make a bet with you that Rand Paul is going to be the nominee,” Burton said.