‘Join the Club’: Rand Paul Mocks People on Disability
The Kentucky senator asserted that the Social Security benefits program is riddled with fraud, with most people who draw benefits suffering from nothing more serious than anxiety or back pain.
“The thing is that all of these programs, there’s always somebody who’s deserving, everybody in this room knows somebody who’s gaming the system. I tell people that if you look like me and you hop out of your truck, you shouldn’t be getting a disability check,” Paul said. “Over half the people on disability are either anxious or their back hurts. Join the club. Who doesn’t get up a little anxious for work every day and their back hurts? Everyone over 40 has a back pain.”
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Rand Paul’s remarks today mark merely the latest expression of callousness toward a vulnerable group to come from the Paul family. During his 2012 presidential campaign, Ron Paul was asked during a GOP primary debate how he’d respond to the hypothetical case of a 30-year-old man who could afford insurance but chose not to buy it — and then wound up in intensive care with a catastrophic malady. After Paul muttered a response about personal responsibility, members of the debate crowd shouted, “Let him die!”