During an appearance on Fox News Channel’s Jesse Watters Primetime on Monday, Senator Rand Paul voiced strong opposition to the idea of President Donald Trump accepting a $400 million aircraft from the government of Qatar.
Watters opened the segment by describing the scenario: “Qatar just made Trump an offer he can’t refuse. A $400 million Air Force One replacement because Boeing didn’t deliver their jet on time. Trump can ride it until his term is up. Democrats are calling this a bribe, but Pam Bondi says it’s legal as long as he transfers the jet to his library and eventually switches back to Trump Force One. He says only a stupid person would not take the deal.”
Senator Paul quickly pointed to constitutional concerns, highlighting the potential legal pitfalls of such a gift. “The Constitution in Article II talks about the president can’t take emoluments or gifts from foreign leaders. And so, there is a provision in the Constitution that says you can’t do this. And so, the question is, can you do it only if it’s only for official purposes?”
He went on to suggest that, legal or not, the optics of the situation could prove damaging. “I think it’s not worth the appearance of impropriety, whether it’s improper or not, it’s not worth it.”
Pushing the scenario further, Watters asked, “So, if Qatar does give it to him and he says, Hey, Rand, you wanna hop on the jet down to Palm Beach, you’ll say, no?”
Paul replied decisively, “No. I think it’s a mistake, and it’s just bringing up something he doesn’t need.”
{Matzav.com}