Advertisement

Sen. Rand Paul touts GOP civil rights history at Howard University

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) arrives on stage to deliver remarks during the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference, on March 14, 2013 in National Harbor, Maryland. UPI/Kevin Dietsch
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) arrives on stage to deliver remarks during the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference, on March 14, 2013 in National Harbor, Maryland. UPI/Kevin Dietsch | License Photo

WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- Tea Party favorite Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Wednesday gave black students at Howard University a primer on U.S. civil rights and the Republican Party.

"No Republican questions or disputes civil rights," Paul told an audience at the historically African-American university in the nation's capital. "I've never wavered in my support for civil rights or the Civil Rights Act."

Advertisement

Paul's outreach may have something to do with his consideration of a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, Politico said.

During a question-and-answer session with students, Paul said he "has never wavered" in his support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects voting rights of minorities, but he indicated he does "question some of the ramifications" of the act on business.

Skeptical students listened but said it seemed Paul was focusing on the GOP's Civil War-era past and not its present or future.

"All of his examples were from 100 years ago," Brendon Patterson, a economics major from Chicago, told Politico.

Paul is the most recent Republican to address Howard students. Colin Powell spoke in 1994 and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele appeared in 2009.

Advertisement

Latest Headlines