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Jon Stewart Respects Ron Paul
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ShareJune 05, 2007 10:44 AM
ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf Reports: In case you missed it, Rep. Ron Paul, R-TX, the medical doctor and upstart libertarian candidate for President sought some street cred on The Daily Show Monday night.
Paul got some kudos from Jon Stewart, who said even people who don't agree with Paul's message have to respect his consistency.
"What is so interesting about Congressman Ron Paul is you appear to have consistent principled integrity," Stewart said. "Americans don't usually go for that," he added ironically.
"You seem to practice what you preach. You seem to preach consistently, even though people might disagree with the message. They certainly can't argue that you are a man of consistent principles," said Stewart.
"I like to think that I introduced a brand-new idea into this campaign," Paul said. "I have even suggested that we follow the constitution," he added with his own bit of irony.
Paul has parlayed a strong, if minute, web-savvy libertarian base and some airtime in Republican presidential debates into a fair amount of buzz.
He had a memorable exchange with former NY Mayor (and Republican front runner) Rudy Giuliani over whether US Middle East Policy and the first Gulf War in the '90s led to the attacks of September 11th.
Giuliani said it was preposterous for Paul to imply such a thing. Paul has been hammering away at Giuliani's foreign policy acumen ever since. The comedic high point of the interview came when Stewart played on the feud and offered Paul some "zingers" for use in tonight's Republican debate, hosted by CNN in New Hampshire.
"Here you go," Stewart said. "Here is a good one here for, Let's go with Giuliania: Hey, you love the war on terror so much, why don't you marry it? ... Or wait, he would probably then just divorce it a couple of years later."
Paul is unique among Republican Presidential candidates as someone who opposes the Iraq war and has opposed it since 2002. "I don't believe in spreading (Liberty) with guns," Paul said. "We should spread it by setting a good example and get others to emulate us but not to try to force it on other people."
Paul also told Stewart he identifies as a Libertarian more than a Republican, but that it's hard in the United States to operate outside the two-party system. "You almost have to be Ross Perot to get on the ballots," Paul said.
To wit, Paul, a medical doctor who does not accept Medicare because he disagrees with the government subsidy, told Stewart about the libertarian ideas he would bring to the White House. "We taught a couple generations to be very dependent on government," Paul said. "And that is not my goal ... I happen to think that the market can deliver any service better than the government can."
This would include moving the defense department, Paul said, back to a defensive stance. What the Pentagon practices today, he said, is "militarism."
He would also try to legalize competition to the US Postal Service in First Class Mail. Stewart questioned the idealist in Paul. "But doesn't that in some respects trust corporations over, or is that -- because there has always been regulation, would you get rid of regulation for that as well?" asked Stewart.
Paul answered that even he does not like all corporations, especially when they leech off the government. "Yeah, there is a big difference between corporations who benefit from government largess. That is corporatism and that's evil, you know. Halliburton or something."
June 5, 2007 in Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (22)
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Great job of reporting the events as they took place without injecting any bias. Ron Paul deserves this sort of respect just as every candidates does. Vote Ron Paul 2008!
Posted by: MJ | Jun 5, 2007 6:09:34 PM
Amen. Every candidate should be seen and heard. Bias has no place in this country.
Posted by: Gwen | Jun 5, 2007 9:41:30 PM
oh wait a minute, that liberal comedian had a republican candidate on...and was respectful?!?! maybe bill o'rielly and hannity could learn a thing or two from stewart about being a good talk show host AND a good american.
Posted by: jro | Jun 6, 2007 8:36:29 AM
WHERE ARE ALL THE POLLS???
I DONT SEE THEM ANYWHERE!!!
I GUESS THE EVIL FORCES BEHIND THE POLL TAKING DONT WANT THE WINNER RON PAUL TO GET ALL THE ATTENTION!
WHAT SORE LOSERS!!!
RON PAUL 2008!!!
THE CHAMPION OF THE CONSTITUTION!
Posted by: FLOWER | Jun 7, 2007 2:46:23 AM
Yeah FLOWER, I can't vote in the poll anymore.
This article was fair enough though it
says Paul has "minute" support.
Well,according to their poll results over 87% of 23,000 people voted for Paul as best; and voting was only open for 3 days at the most!
That doesn't seem minute to me!
If Giuliani and McCain are so popular, why didn't they even get into the double digits on a major national news website poll?
Don't believe media "shaping of opinion" and it's not spammers for Paul, it's real and widespread support!
Posted by: salvadordali | Jun 7, 2007 12:20:50 PM
Overall a very nice article. Except for the "minute, web-savvy libertarian base"-attack, which frankly is a bizarre statement. Why do you insist on these claims? What is your motivation?
Ron Paul has a great amount of support, because he has a strong message. Perhaps, you should try and assume the facts are as they appear.
Posted by: Holly | Jun 8, 2007 12:26:36 PM
From the 9/11 Commission Report page 49:
"He [Osama]stresses grievances against the United States widely shared in the Muslim world. He inveighed against the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, the home of Islam's holiest sites. He spoke of the suffering of the Iraqi people as a result of sanctions imposed after the Gulf War, and he protested US support of Israel."
Pass the truth on!!
Thank you for reporting on Ron Paul!
Posted by: Erica | Jun 8, 2007 2:16:29 PM
Thanks for the pretty fair article.
Indeed, the "... strong, if minute, web-savvy libertarian base..." comment is totally unfounded. Responsible journallism requires you to back that up with some evidence, please, or else refrain from such a prejudicial remark.
But thank you for the otherwise accurate coverage.
Posted by: joshM321 | Jun 8, 2007 4:58:52 PM
Excellent piece. Thank you for a fair reporting. Ron Paul will defend this country to his core. It's what the Constitution states needs to be done. Ron always follows the US Constitution!
Posted by: Jose Castillo | Jun 8, 2007 10:35:57 PM
One point I forgot to mention with regard to the implication of alleged 'spamming' by Ron Paul supporters, let us not forget who won 1st place in Fox's text-message poll following the May 15 GOP debate: it was one of the members of the Rudymcromney triumvirate--while it was Ron who wound up taking 2nd place.
As you can see, the problem that the detractors now have in this instance is in trying to explain just how it is that Paul's support in this poll was the result of a dedicated but 'minute' base of 'spammers', while the 1st place winner's support (Romney) was bona fide.
Explain that one, please.
Posted by: joshM321 | Jun 9, 2007 4:46:36 AM
I hope ABC News continues to report on Ron Paul's campaign speeches. People need to hear a candidate telling us the truth.
Posted by: Indy Jo | Jun 9, 2007 11:34:06 AM
Thank you for giving Paul a fair shake...
He's by far the most interesting candidate in the election, let's give him some more air-time...
GoRonPaul
Posted by: GoRonPaul | Jun 10, 2007 9:17:02 AM
Once upon a time there was a news company that reported unbiased news. The news was not handed down Thur a pipe line from the elite top. The news reporters were called "Investigative reporters" But because corporations bought out big media they stopped investigative reporting. Freedom of the press now equals, whats good for corporations and not the general public.
Someday it will return...
I want to thank ABC news for sharing this tidbit for information with the online public.
Posted by: Kurt from Pittsburgh | Jun 10, 2007 12:56:33 PM
You're absolutely right about the "investigative reporting." When's the last time the media actually broke a Watergate-type story?
All they do now is read press releases.
Posted by: Angela Thornton | Jun 10, 2007 1:04:18 PM
Nice bit of reporting. It was an enjoyable Daily Show episode and keep your eyes out cause Ron Paul is going to be on the Colbert Report on the 13th of June, which I'm sure will be just as good.
Posted by: Mark | Jun 10, 2007 1:04:33 PM
Love to hear more about Ron Paul. Once I check into what he has to say and passed voting record, I started to really get on his side. Its a shame he doesn't get alot of coverage, although he has ALOT of following. Biggest canidate on the web by far. RON PAUL 2008...God Bless America
Posted by: Jason | Jun 10, 2007 2:36:03 PM
Dr.. Paul is not an upstart, he has been everywhere, at the age of 72, my respects to him. About the national poll who put him in the bottom portion, it must have something wrong, because when compared to all straw polls or others, he is No.1 or 2. by a large margin. Who controls the National Polls?
Posted by: Charlie | Oct 19, 2007 2:47:15 AM
The more I listen to him, read his writings and study Ron Paul's voting record in congress, the more convinced I am becoming that he is the most qualified to lead this country through the looming economic an foreign policy crisis facing us. And I am beginning to think that he could win not only the Republican nomination, but the presidency. He certainly deserves the attention of the voters.
Posted by: grayboy61 | Oct 20, 2007 2:41:03 PM
If Ron Paul isn't the next President, I predict we'll begin seeing mini-skirmishes between the citizenry and "their" government in the near future, sort of Ruby Ridge-like stuff. Those will escalate to Waco-sized events, and eventually it's 1775 all over again. I'm in no way advocating this, I'm just voicing a hunch. One gets the sense that people are seriously fed up with government, in a way they haven't been in a long, long time.
Posted by: I Like Pie | Oct 24, 2007 7:48:48 AM
I've always said that most Americans were Libertarian and didn't know it. Well now, it appears that I may be proven correct!
Posted by: Branden | Oct 25, 2007 3:27:05 AM
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