“Both Bolton and Giuliani have advocated for regime change in Iran, and that doesn’t sound like diplomacy, that sounds like war,” Sen. Rand Paul said. | AP Photo Rand Paul slams State contenders Bolton, Giuliani

Sen. Rand Paul is flexing some maverick muscle.

Speaking on "Face the Nation" on CBS on Sunday, the Kentucky Republican lashed out against two of the people President-elect Donald Trump is said to be considering for secretary of state: John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani.


“Both Bolton and Giuliani have advocated for regime change in Iran, and that doesn’t sound like diplomacy, that sounds like war,” Paul said.

“Giuliani and Bolton are out there on the extreme. I don’t think they are very diplomatic. Bolton might be better as a secretary of war, but he is certainly not a diplomat or someone who acts in a diplomatic way or thinks that diplomacy might be an alternative to war.”

Bolton was ambassador to the U.N. under President George W. Bush; Giuliani is a former mayor of New York and a loyal Trump supporter.

Paul said there will be 52 Republicans in the next Senate, a slim majority. “It is a very close vote.” (The 52nd would be Louisiana's John Kennedy, who is facing Democrat Foster Campbell in a December runoff.)

“There are several potential Republican votes against someone like a Bolton, possibly Giuliani,” Paul said. “The other thing Giuliani is going to stir up is it is going to be a hornet's nest on all the financial stuff," he said, without elaborating.

Separately, Paul said he agrees with Sen. John McCain that waterboarding is torture. Trump has indicated he would bring back waterboarding as an interrogation tool.

“We should telegraph to the world that we are better than this, and we do not torture,” Paul said.

Paul said Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo, will need to explain his position on the power of the National Security Agency.

“He has also been for expanding NSA powers,” Paul said. “One of my questions for Pompeo: Are there secret programs that even Congress does not know about? And I think there still are programs ongoing that the bulk of Congress is not aware of.”

