NBC News contributor Hugh Hewitt: “Should home rule be taken away” from Washington, D.C.?
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Hugh Hewitt: “Should home rule be taken away” from Washington, D.C.?
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From the September 2, 2020, edition of Salem Radio Network’s The Hugh Hewitt Show
HUGH HEWITT (HOST): Should home rule be taken away from D.C., and returned to federal control, if they can’t provide protection on the streets of the capital, Senator?
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Yes. D.C. is a unique thing set up by the Constitution, taken from the states. It’s not a state. It doesn’t have states rights, and a lot of the decisions are made by — made by Congress. But I think, really, if you can’t have calm or peace in your streets, that has to happen.
And I am very worried about our country. I’m worried about what happens in Louisville. There’s going to be a decision whether or not they try those police officers that were involved in the no-knock raid of Breonna Taylor. When that decision comes down, they’re already threatening to burn the city down. And we are going to preemptively need — and this is the job of the governor, it really has to be done by governors, that’s the way our laws are written. But if our governor doesn’t have the National Guard out to the tune of a couple of thousand soldiers on the day of that, it’s all on him if they burn Louisville down. And they’re already threatening to do it. And this is happening in other cities. And I truly agree with President Trump that if you want the country to look like Portland, that’s what’s going to happen if you let Joe Biden supporters and Black Lives Matter — you know, if you let them win the election. So, we’ve got to decide what we want to do.
HEWITT: Well, Senator, you know, the Constitution — the Constitution calls for a federal city, it doesn’t say it has to be in D.C. Would you be in favor of, you know, keeping the Mall and the White House and Congress, and giving the rest back to Maryland?
PAUL: I’ve always been in favor of letting it all go back to Maryland — yeah, that — Maryland can’t get much worse with their elected representatives. So, no, I think that’s probably not going to happen. I think realistically, I think home rule is a possibility. But the problem right now is the Democrats see this — the mob, as their constituency. So you haven’t heard Joe Biden or Kamala Harris condemn the attack on my wife and I and our two friends. I haven’t heard a peep from them. All Joe Biden did was pop out of somewhere and say, “Oh, it’s all President Trump’s fault.” Well, this is all going, law enforcement is primarily the responsibility of local officials
HEWITT: Yes.
PAUL: And it’s state law.
HEWITT: Yes.
PAUL: They're — it’s Democrats for 50 years that are responsible for this.
HEWITT: Senator Rand Paul, I’m glad you’re safe. Thank you for joining us this morning.